U.S. Code » Title 18 » Part PART I— CRIMES › Chapter CHAPTER 2— AIRCRAFT AND MOTOR VEHICLES

18 U.S.C. § 33

Destruction of motor vehicles or motor vehicle facilities

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(a) Whoever willfully, with intent to endanger the safety of any person on board or anyone who he believes will board the same, or with a reckless disregard for the safety of human life, damages, disables, destroys, tampers with, or places or causes to be placed any explosive or other destructive substance in, upon, or in proximity to, any motor vehicle which is used, operated, or employed in interstate or foreign commerce, or its cargo or material used or intended to be used in connection with its operation; or

Whoever willfully, with like intent, damages, disables, destroys, sets fire to, tampers with, or places or causes to be placed any explosive or other destructive substance in, upon, or in proximity to any garage, terminal, structure, supply, or facility used in the operation of, or in support of the operation of, motor vehicles engaged in interstate or foreign commerce or otherwise makes or causes such property to be made unworkable, unusable, or hazardous to work or use; or

Whoever, with like intent, willfully disables or incapacitates any driver or person employed in connection with the operation or maintenance of the motor vehicle, or in any way lessens the ability of such person to perform his duties as such; or

Whoever willfully attempts or conspires to do any of the aforesaid acts—

shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.

(b) Whoever is convicted of a violation of subsection (a) involving a motor vehicle that, at the time the violation occurred, carried high-level radioactive waste (as that term is defined in section 2(12) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101(12))) or spent nuclear fuel (as that term is defined in section 2(23) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101(23))), shall be fined under this title and imprisoned for any term of years not less than 30, or for life.(Added July 14, 1956, ch. 595, § 1, 70 Stat. 540; amended Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(L), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147; Pub. L. 104–88, title IV, § 402(a), Dec. 29, 1995, 109 Stat. 955; Pub. L. 109–177, title IV, § 406(c)(1), Mar. 9, 2006, 120 Stat. 245.)Editorial NotesAmendments

2006—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–177 inserted “or conspires” before “to do any of the aforesaid acts” in fourth par.

1995—Pub. L. 104–88 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsec. (b).

1994—Pub. L. 103–322 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $10,000”.

Statutory Notes and Related SubsidiariesEffective Date of 1995 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 104–88 effective Jan. 1, 1996, see section 2 of Pub. L. 104–88, set out as an Effective Date note under section 1301 of Title 49, Transportation.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 30 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1977–2025 · leading case: United States v. Jerry Dale Lowe, 65 F.3d 1137 (4th Cir. 1995).
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United States v. Jerry Dale Lowe, 65 F.3d 1137 (4th Cir. 1995). · cites it 8× “OPINION HAMILTON, Circuit Judge: Appellant, Jerry Dale Lowe (Lowe), appeals his conviction and sentence for three violations of 18 U.S.C. § 33 and one violation of 18 U.”
United States v. Ronald Joseph Kurka, United States of Am. v. David Lee Combs, 818 F.2d 1427 (9th Cir. 1987). · cites it 13× “HUG, Circuit Judge: Appellant Combs was convicted, under criminal statute 18 U.S.C. § 33 (1982), of having damaged, with reckless disregard for the safety of human life, a motor vehicle in interstate commerce.”
United States v. Nicholas Slatten, 865 F.3d 767 (D.C. Cir. 2017). · cites it 2× “18 U.S.C. § 33 (b). Perhaps most extreme of all, a person who attempts or threatens to use an atomic weapon while in possession of one also receives a minimum sentence of 30 years.”
United States v. Ressam, 679 F.3d 1069 (9th Cir. 2012). · cites it 2× “§ 2332b(a)(1)(B); (2) conspiring to place an explosive in proximity to a terminal, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 33 ; (3) possession of false identification documents in connection with a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.”
United States v. George Robert Lambert, 994 F.2d 1088 (4th Cir. 1993). · cites it 5× “OPINION PHILLIPS, Circuit Judge: ■George Lambert appeals the sentence he received for violating 18 U.S.C. § 33 by at *1090 tempting, with reckless disregard for human life, to damage a bus operated in interstate commerce.”
United States v. Dennis L. Daniels, 948 F.2d 1033 (6th Cir. 1991). · cites it 7× “This is an appeal from a conviction and sentence for damaging a motor vehicle with reckless disregard for human life, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 33 and 2, and for using a firearm during a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.”
United States v. Master Sergeant ALAN S. GUARDADO, 75 M.J. 889 (A.C.C.A. 2016). · cites it 2× “In Robbins, the accused had been convicted of violating an Ohio law that had been assimilated into federal law by the Assimilative Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. § 33 (ACA), and charged as a Clause 3 violation of Article 134, UCMJ.”
United States v. Salameh, 152 F.3d 88 (2d Cir. 1998). · cites it 4× “§ 844 (d); and (iv) to bomb automobiles used in interstate commerce, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 33 . The World Trade Center bombing is not listed as an object of the conspiracy, but merely as one of 31 overt acts alleged to have been committed in furtherance of the conspiracy.”
United States v. Anthony Neil Jim, 865 F.2d 211 (9th Cir. 1989). · cites it 2× “2d at 1432 (“[s]ince we hold that willfulness is an element required to be proved under 18 U.S.C. § 33 , this makes 18 U.S.C. § 33 a specific intent crime.”
United States v. Kevin Bishop, United States of Am. v. Edward Stokes, 66 F.3d 569 (3rd Cir. 1995). “18 U.S.C. § 33 . That the truck was accosted on an intrastate journey, carrying coal ultimately headed to Virginia, was one factor the court used in determining whether the truck was used in interstate commerce, but the court did not state that an interstate destination was a…”
United States v. Alfonso Adalberto Pupo, United States of Am. v. George Govantes, 841 F.2d 1235 (4th Cir. 1988). “The defendant was charged with violation of 18 U.S.C. § 33 under which it is unlawful to “willfully, with intent to endanger the safety of any person on board or anyone who he believes will board, the same, or with reckless disregard for the safety of human life, damages .”
United States v. Tarantino, 617 F. App'x 62 (2d Cir. 2015). · cites it 3× “SUMMARY ORDER Defendant Christian Gerold Tarantino appeals from the District Court’s April 26, 2013 judgment convicting him, after two jury trials, of willfully endangering the safety of a commercial motor vehicle operator, resulting in the operator’s death, in violation of 18…”
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