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The FBI and Federal Criminal Statutes Over the years, Congress has enacted more than 3,000 federal criminal statutes. The FBI, as the national government's only general purpose investigative agency, can use most of these laws in its daily enforcement activities. While in any year the FBI will cite many hundreds of these laws as the central charge, the overwhelming majority of the bureau cases are brought under only a few dozen of them.
A person who is charged with criminal offenses as a result of an FBI investigation rarely is accused of violating only a single law. A drug dealer, for example, might be charged under separate laws concerning the illegal distribution of drugs, money laundering and racketeering. Similarly, a crooked city employee might be charged with fraud against the government, mail fraud and criminal tax violations.
Another peculiarity regarding the FBI and the law is that many federal statutes mirror local ones. This means, for example, that FBI cases involving such subjects as bank robbery, gangs, kidnapping and drug dealing could also be brought by local authorities. One result of this situation is that every time the FBI involves itself in a matter that could be handled by city or state police, it has less time for matters that are better addressed at the federal level such as national security and the criminal violations of large corporations.
During the Justice Department's data collection process, assistant United States attorneys across the country are asked to select the "lead charge" against each of the defendants they prosecute. Obviously, the judgement about which law will be cited as the lead charge is somewhat subjective when multiple serious violations are involved. In addition, such judgements sometimes may be influenced by the political needs of the moment: an administration, for example, that wants to show the public it is deeply concerned about the hot subject of the year such as organized crime or threats to the nation's security.
Here then, as viewed through the lens of federal prosecutors across the country, are the statutes most frequently cited as being the "lead charge" in the referrals coming from the FBI. The laws are presented in the order of their statute numbers. The complete text of these frequently cited statutes can be viewed by selecting the particular law of interest in the following table.
Click on Statute to View Text
U.S. Code Description 18 USC 13 crimes-general provisions 18 USC 111 assaulting or intimidating govt employee 18 USC 113 assault within maritime/territorial jurisd. 18 USC 152 conceal assets - bribery 18 USC 201 bribery of federal witness 18 USC 228 failure to pay child support 18 USC 241 conspiracy against civil rights 18 USC 242 deprivation of rights under color of law 18 USC 287 false claims against the U.S. 18 USC 371 conspiracy to defraud the U.S. 18 USC 641 embezzlement - theft of federal property 18 USC 656 theft or embezzlement by bank officer or employee 18 USC 657 embezzlement- federal bank officials or employees 18 USC 659 embezzlement and theft --interstate commerce 18 USC 666 embezzlement - programs receiving fed funds 18 USC 875 extortion and threats-by interstate comm. 18 USC 876 extortion and threats -by mail 18 USC 912 false impersonation of US official 18 USC 922 firearms - illegal procedures 18 USC 924 firearms - knowing false statements 18 USC 1001 fraud and false statements 18 USC 1005 fraud/false statement by bank officers 18 USC 1014 fraud/false statements-loan and credit appl. 18 USC 1029 fraud/false statements - access devices 18 USC 1073 flight to avoid prosecution or testimony 18 USC 1153 offenses within Indian country 18 USC 1201 kidnapping 18 USC 1341 mail fraud 18 USC 1343 mail fraud - wire, radio, TV 18 USC 1344 bank fraud 18 USC 1791 provision/possession of prison contraband 18 USC 1951 interfere with commerce - by threats/violence 18 USC 1952 interstate travel in aid of racketeering 18 USC 1955 illegal gambling 18 USC 1956 laundering of monetary instrument 18 USC 1962 racketeering - prohibited acts 18 USC 2113 bank robbery 18 USC 2119 robbery - car jacking 18 USC 2241 sexual abuse in federal territories 18 USC 2312 transportation of stolen vehicles 18 USC 2314 transportation of stolen goods, securities 18 USC 2511 wiretapping 21 USC 841 drugs - prohibited acts 21 USC 846 drugs - attempt and conspiracy 31 USC 5324 financial reporting requirement
