U.S. Code » Title 18 » Part PART I— CRIMES › Chapter CHAPTER 73— OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE

18 U.S.C. § 1513

Retaliating against a witness, victim, or an informant

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(a)(1) Whoever kills or attempts to kill another person with intent to retaliate against any person for—(A) the attendance of a witness or party at an official proceeding, or any testimony given or any record, document, or other object produced by a witness in an official proceeding; or(B) providing to a law enforcement officer any information relating to the commission or possible commission of a Federal offense or a violation of conditions of probation, supervised release, parole, or release pending judicial proceedings,shall be punished as provided in paragraph (2).(2) The punishment for an offense under this subsection is—(A) in the case of a killing, the punishment provided in sections 1111 and 1112; and(B) in the case of an attempt, imprisonment for not more than 30 years.(b) Whoever knowingly engages in any conduct and thereby causes bodily injury to another person or damages the tangible property of another person, or threatens to do so, with intent to retaliate against any person for—(1) the attendance of a witness or party at an official proceeding, or any testimony given or any record, document, or other object produced by a witness in an official proceeding; or(2) any information relating to the commission or possible commission of a Federal offense or a violation of conditions of probation, supervised release, parole, or release pending judicial proceedings given by a person to a law enforcement officer;or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.(c) If the retaliation occurred because of attendance at or testimony in a criminal case, the maximum term of imprisonment which may be imposed for the offense under this section shall be the higher of that otherwise provided by law or the maximum term that could have been imposed for any offense charged in such case.(d) There is extraterritorial Federal jurisdiction over an offense under this section.(e) Whoever knowingly, with the intent to retaliate, takes any action harmful to any person, including interference with the lawful employment or livelihood of any person, for providing to a law enforcement officer any truthful information relating to the commission or possible commission of any Federal offense, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.(f) Whoever conspires to commit any offense under this section shall be subject to the same penalties as those prescribed for the offense the commission of which was the object of the conspiracy.(g) A prosecution under this section may be brought in the district in which the official proceeding (whether pending, about to be instituted, or completed) was intended to be affected, or in which the conduct constituting the alleged offense occurred.(Added Pub. L. 97–291, § 4(a), Oct. 12, 1982, 96 Stat. 1250; amended Pub. L. 103–322, title VI, § 60017, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(U), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 1975, 2148; Pub. L. 104–214, § 1(1), Oct. 1, 1996, 110 Stat. 3017; Pub. L. 107–204, title XI, § 1107(a), July 30, 2002, 116 Stat. 810; Pub. L. 107–273, div. B, title III, § 3001(b), (c)(2), title IV, § 4002(b)(4), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1804, 1807; Pub. L. 110–177, title II, §§ 204, 206, Jan. 7, 2008, 121 Stat. 2537.)Editorial NotesAmendments

2008—Subsec. (a)(1)(B). Pub. L. 110–177, § 206(1), inserted comma after “probation” and struck out comma after “release,”.

Subsec. (a)(2)(B). Pub. L. 110–177, § 206(2), substituted “30 years” for “20 years”.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 110–177, § 206(3)(B), substituted “20 years” for “ten years” in concluding provisions.

Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 110–177, § 206(3)(A), inserted comma after “probation” and struck out comma after “release,”.

Subsecs. (e), (f). Pub. L. 110–177, § 206(4), redesignated subsec. (e) relating to conspiracy to commit any offense under this section as (f).

Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 110–177, § 204, added subsec. (g).

2002—Subsecs. (a)(1)(B), (b)(2). Pub. L. 107–273, § 3001(c)(2), inserted “supervised release,” after “probation”.

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 107–273, § 4002(b)(4), transferred subsec. (d) to appear after subsec. (c).

Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 107–273, § 3001(b), added subsec. (e) relating to conspiracy to commit any offense under this section.

Pub. L. 107–204 added subsec. (e) relating to taking of action harmful to any person for providing law enforcement officer truthful information relating to commission of offense.

1996—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 104–214, § 1(1)(B), added subsec. (c) at end.

Pub. L. 104–214, § 1(1)(A), redesignated subsec. (c) as (d).

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 104–214, § 1(1)(A), redesignated subsec. (c) as (d).

1994—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–322, § 60017(2), added subsec. (a). Former subsec. (a) redesignated (b).

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 103–322, § 330016(1)(U), substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $250,000” in concluding provisions.

Pub. L. 103–322, § 60017(1), redesignated subsec. (a) as (b). Former subsec. (b) redesignated (c).

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 103–322, § 60017(1), redesignated subsec. (b) as (c).

Statutory Notes and Related SubsidiariesEffective Date

Section effective Oct. 12, 1982, see section 9(a) of Pub. L. 97–291, set out as a note under section 1512 of this title.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 511 cases (107 in the last 5 years), 1983–2026 · leading case: United States v. Anthony Gadson
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United States v. Anthony Gadson (2014) ca9 · cites it 14× “§ 924 (c)(1)(A)(i) (Count 3); and conspiracy to retaliate against a witness, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1513 (e) (Count 5). The government also charged Wilson with attempting to kill a witness, in violation of 18 U.”
United States v. Jimmy Allred (2019) ca4 · cites it 11× “§ 2255 protesting that his sentence was no longer valid because his predicate conviction for retaliation against a witness, see 18 U.S.C. § 1513 (b)(1), did not qualify as an ACCA violent felony in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Samuel Johnson v.”
United States v. Shirley Maggitt and Tommy Maggitt (1986) ca5 · cites it 15× “§ 1512 and 18 U.S.C. § 1513 . Finding appellants’ *592 contentions to be without merit, this Court affirms the judgment of the district court.”
United States v. Wardell (2009) ca10 · cites it 9× “, was charged, along with three codefendants, with (1) conspiring to retaliate against a witness, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1513 (b)(1) and § 371 (2005), 1 and (2) retaliating against a witness, in violation of 18 U.”
United States v. Wayne Stoker (2013) ca5 · cites it 11× “PER CURIAM: Wayne Allen Stoker (“Stoker”) appeals his conviction and sentence on two counts of retaliating against and threatening a witness, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1513 (e) and 876(c). Finding the evidence sufficient to support the verdict, but only one count to be a…”
Digital Realty Trust, Inc. v. Somers (2018) scotus · cites it 3× “SOMERS Opinion of the Court ties Exchange Act of 1934, the criminal anti-retaliation proscription at 18 U. S. C. §1513 (e), or any other law subject to the SEC’s jurisdiction.”
United States v. Henderson (2010) ca6 · cites it 5× “In February 2006, Henderson was charged with two counts of retaliatory murder (for killing Robert Bass and Ecolia Washington in retaliation for their participation in the bank robbery prosecution), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1513 (a)(1)(B) and § 1513(a)(1)(A), respectively; and…”
United States v. Draper (2009) ca2 · cites it 7× “) on the following witness retaliation, witness *176 tampering, narcotics, and firearm charges: conspiracy to retaliate against a witness, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1513 (b)(2), (f); retaliating against a witness, in violation of 18 U.”
Michael Deguelle v. Kristen Camilli (2011) ca7 · cites it 5× “§ 1512 (b)(3); altering, destroying, mutilating, or concealing a document with the intent to obstruct justice in violation of 18 U.”
United States v. Ashley (2010) ca4 · cites it 4× “The scheme eventually came to light, and Caruso was charged with retaliating against a federal informant under 18 U.S.C. § 1513 (a)(1), while York was charged with conspiracy to retaliate.”
United States v. McLaughlin, Rico (1998) cadc · cites it 8× “” At the close of trial, McLaughlin was convicted of (1) knowingly causing bodily injury with the intent to retaliate for providing information to law enforcement, 18 U.S.C. § 1513 (b); (2) using or carrying a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, 18 U.”
United States v. William Boney (2014) ca3 · cites it 10× “§§ 841 (a)(1), (b)(1)(B), & 846; attempting to retaliate against a witness, victim, or informant in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1513 (a)(1)(B); and solicitation of a person to retaliate against a witness, victim, or informant, as prohibited by 18 U.”
Show all 511 citing cases →
— 18 U.S.C. § 1513(a)(1)(B) — 1 case
United States v. William Baskerville (2026) ca3
— 18 U.S.C. § 1513(b) — 1 case
David C. Goad v. the County of Guadalupe, Texas (2015) texapp
— 18 U.S.C. § 1513(b)(2) — 2 cases
Kerrigan v. United States (2022) nysd
Kerrigan v. United States (2024) nysd
— 18 U.S.C. § 1513(e) — 5 cases
In Re Compact Disc Minimum Advertised Price Antitrust Litigation (2006) med
Verble v. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC (2015) tned
United States v. Joy Edwards (2019) ca6
United States v. Edwards (2017) ohsd
United States v. William Baskerville (2026) ca3
— 18 U.S.C. § 1513(f) — 3 cases
United States v. Jones (2017) ca7
United States v. Toby Jones (2017) ca7
United States v. William Baskerville (2026) ca3
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.