U.S. Code » Title 18 » Part PART I— CRIMES › Chapter CHAPTER 19— CONSPIRACY

18 U.S.C. § 373

Solicitation to commit a crime of violence

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(a) Whoever, with intent that another person engage in conduct constituting a felony that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against property or against the person of another in violation of the laws of the United States, and under circumstances strongly corroborative of that intent, solicits, commands, induces, or otherwise endeavors to persuade such other person to engage in such conduct, shall be imprisoned not more than one-half the maximum term of imprisonment or (notwithstanding section 3571) fined not more than one-half of the maximum fine prescribed for the punishment of the crime solicited, or both; or if the crime solicited is punishable by life imprisonment or death, shall be imprisoned for not more than twenty years.(b) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under this section that, under circumstances manifesting a voluntary and complete renunciation of his criminal intent, the defendant prevented the commission of the crime solicited. A renunciation is not “voluntary and complete” if it is motivated in whole or in part by a decision to postpone the commission of the crime until another time or to substitute another victim or another but similar objective. If the defendant raises the affirmative defense at trial, the defendant has the burden of proving the defense by a preponderance of the evidence.(c) It is not a defense to a prosecution under this section that the person solicited could not be convicted of the crime because he lacked the state of mind required for its commission, because he was incompetent or irresponsible, or because he is immune from prosecution or is not subject to prosecution.(Added Pub. L. 98–473, title II, § 1003(a), Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2138; amended Pub. L. 99–646, § 26, Nov. 10, 1986, 100 Stat. 3597; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(2)(A), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2148.)Editorial NotesAmendments

1994—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–322 inserted “(notwithstanding section 3571)” before “fined not more than one-half”.

1986—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99–646 substituted “property or against the person of another” for “the person or property of another” and inserted “life imprisonment or” before “death”.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 227 cases (39 in the last 5 years), 1987–2026 · leading case: United States v. Hinkson, 585 F.3d 1247 (9th Cir. 2009).
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United States v. Hinkson, 585 F.3d 1247 (9th Cir. 2009). · cites it 12× “The indictment contained 11 counts: Counts 1 through 3 charged Hinkson *1253 with violating 18 U.S.C. § 373 [2] when he solicited Harding to torture and kill Cook, Hines, and Lodge in January 2003.”
United States v. Dane Gillis, 938 F.3d 1181 (11th Cir. 2019). · cites it 12× “18 U.S.C. § 373 CONVICTION Gillis challenges his Count 2 conviction for solicitation of another to commit the crime of federal kidnapping under 18 U.”
United States v. Stewart, 590 F.3d 93 (2d Cir. 2009). · cites it 8× “, murder and conspiracy to commit murder — in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 373 . We conclude that the evidence is sufficient to sustain these convictions, especially in light of testimony establishing that Sattar attempted to undermine a unilateral cease-fire by an Egyptian…”
United States v. James Hackley, IV, 662 F.3d 671 (4th Cir. 2011). · cites it 6× “§ 1958 ; (2) solicitation to commit murder for hire, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 373 and 1958; (3) obstruction of justice, in violation of 18 U.”
United States v. Daniel Dvorkin, 799 F.3d 867 (7th Cir. 2015). · cites it 10× “§ 1958 , and on one count of soliciting another to commit a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 373 . He timely appealed his convictions on various grounds.”
United States v. Robert D. Stewart, Jr., AKA Robert Wilson Stewart, Bob Stewart, 420 F.3d 1007 (9th Cir. 2005). · cites it 4× “However, Count 4 alleged Stewart solicited another person to murder Judge Silver, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 373 (a). Section 373(a) provides in part: Whoever, with intent that another person engage in conduct constituting a felony that has as an element the use, attempted use,…”
United States v. Hansen, 599 U.S. 762 (2023). · cites it 2× “(footnotes omitted); see Page Proof Pending Publication also 18 U. S. C. § 373 (the general federal solicitation statute, which is limited to the solicitation of violent felonies).”
United States v. William Boney, 769 F.3d 153 (3rd Cir. 2014). · cites it 10× “§ 1513 (a)(1)(B), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 373 . The United States District Court for the District of Delaware sentenced Boney to a term of imprisonment of 220 months on each of these counts and ordered the sentences to run concurrently.”
In Re: Wissam Hammoud, 931 F.3d 1032 (11th Cir. 2019). · cites it 2× “§ 1513 (Count 1); (2) solicitation to commit murder, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 373 (Count 3); (3) use of a firearm during a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.”
United States v. Sattar, 272 F. Supp. 2d 348 (S.D.N.Y. 2003). · cites it 6× “Count Three charges Sattar and Al-Sirri with soliciting persons to engage in crimes of violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 373 . Count Four charges Sattar, Stewart and Yousry with conspiring to defraud the United States in violation of 18 U.”
United States v. William White, 698 F.3d 1005 (7th Cir. 2012). · cites it 6× “William White was charged with soliciting the commission of a violent federal crime against a juror in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 373 . The alleged solicitations at issue were messages that White posted to a website that he created to advance white supremacy, which included…”
Hale v. Fox, 829 F.3d 1162 (10th Cir. 2016). · cites it 2× “§ 1503 , and two counts of soliciting a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 373 . One of the obstruction counts was based on his December 12, 2002 letter, which allegedly stated falsely that he had no infringing materials in his possession.”
Show all 227 citing cases →
— 18 U.S.C. § 373(a)(1) — 1 case
United States v. Johnson, 225 F. Supp. 2d 1022 (N.D. Iowa 2002).
— 18 U.S.C. § 373(c) — 1 case
Watts (W.D. Ark. 2025).
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.