All Agencies, Latest Month		All Agencies, Current FY		Geographic Distribution of Convictions for All Agencies, FY 2024
	Prosecution Report Not Available		Prosecution Report Not Available
	Conviction Report Not Available		8 Convictions in Fiscal Year 2024

CITE

    18 USC Sec. 2                                               01/05/2009

EXPCITE

    TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
    PART I - CRIMES
    CHAPTER 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS

HEAD

    Sec. 2. Principals

STATUTE

      (a) Whoever commits an offense against the United States or aids,
    abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures its commission, is
    punishable as a principal.
      (b) Whoever willfully causes an act to be done which if directly
    performed by him or another would be an offense against the United
    States, is punishable as a principal.

SOURCE

    (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 684; Oct. 31, 1951, ch. 655, Sec.
    17b, 65 Stat. 717.)

HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES

      Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Sec. 550 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch.
    321, Sec. 332, 35 Stat. 1152).
      Section 2(a) comprises section 550 of title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed.,
    without change except in minor matters of phraseology.
      Section 2(b) is added to permit the deletion from many sections
    throughout the revision of such phrases as "causes or procures".
      The section as revised makes clear the legislative intent to
    punish as a principal not only one who directly commits an offense
    and one who "aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures"
    another to commit an offense, but also anyone who causes the doing
    of an act which if done by him directly would render him guilty of
    an offense against the United States.
      It removes all doubt that one who puts in motion or assists in
    the illegal enterprise but causes the commission of an
    indispensable element of the offense by an innocent agent or
    instrumentality, is guilty as a principal even though he
    intentionally refrained from the direct act constituting the
    completed offense.
      This accords with the following decisions: Rothenburg v. United
    States, 1918, 38 S. Ct. 18, 245 U.S. 480, 62 L. Ed. 414, and United
    States v. Hodorowicz, C. C. A. Ill. 1939, 105 F. 2d 218, certiorari
    denied, 60 S. Ct. 108, 308 U.S. 584, 84 L. Ed. 489. United States
    v. Giles, 1937, 57 S. Ct. 340, 300 U.S. 41, 81 L. Ed. 493,
    rehearing denied, 57 S. Ct. 505, 300 U.S. 687, 81 L. Ed. 888.
                                AMENDMENTS
      1951 - Subsec. (a). Act Oct. 31, 1951, inserted "punishable as".
      Subsec. (b). Act Oct. 31, 1951, inserted "willfully" before
    "causes", and "or another" after "him", and substituted "is
    punishable as a principal" for "is also a principal and punishable
    as such".