18 U.S.C. § 752

Instigating or assisting escape

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(a) Whoever rescues or attempts to rescue or instigates, aids or assists the escape, or attempt to escape, of any person arrested upon a warrant or other process issued under any law of the United States, or committed to the custody of the Attorney General or to any institution or facility by his direction, shall, if the custody or confinement is by virtue of an arrest on a charge of felony, or conviction of any offense, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both; or, if the custody or confinement is for extradition, or for exclusion or expulsion proceedings under the immigration laws, or by virtue of an arrest or charge of or for a misdemeanor, and prior to conviction, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.(b) Whoever rescues or attempts to rescue or instigates, aids, or assists the escape or attempted escape of any person in the custody of the Attorney General or his authorized representative, or of any person arrested upon a warrant or other process issued under any law of the United States or from any institution or facility in which he is confined by direction of the Attorney General, shall, if the custody or confinement is by virtue of a lawful arrest for a violation of any law of the United States not punishable by death or life imprisonment and committed before such person’s eighteenth birthday, and as to whom the Attorney General has not specifically directed the institution of criminal proceedings, or by virtue of a commitment as a juvenile delinquent under section 5034 of this title, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 735; May 28, 1956, ch. 331, 70 Stat. 216; Pub. L. 88–251, § 2, Dec. 30, 1963, 77 Stat. 834; Pub. L. 89–176, § 3, Sept. 10, 1965, 79 Stat. 675; Pub. L. 100–690, title VII, § 7055, Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4402; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(H), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147; Pub. L. 107–273, div. B, title IV, § 4002(d)(1)(D), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1809.)Historical and Revision Notes

Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §§ 246, 247, 252, 661, 662c, 753i, 910 (R.S. § 5277; Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, §§ 141, 143, 35 Stat. 1114; May 14, 1930, ch. 274, § 10, 46 Stat. 327; May 27, 1930, ch. 339, § 10, 46 Stat. 390; Mar. 22, 1934, ch. 73, § 2, 48 Stat. 455; May 18, 1934, ch. 303, § 1, 48 Stat. 782).

Section consolidated escape and rescue provisions of sections 246, 247, 252, 661, 662c, 753i, and 910 of title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed. Remaining provisions of those sections are in sections 1071, 1072, 1502, 1792, 3183, and 3195 of this title.

No two sections provided the same punishment. Every section except said section 252 made the offense a misdemeanor by providing for fines varying from $500 to $1,000 and terms of imprisonment varying from 6 months to 1 year. Said section 252, representing the latest expression by Congress, provided for 10 years’ imprisonment.

The punishment provision was adopted from section 751 of this title, which makes it unlawful for a prisoner to escape from his place of confinement. Thus the same punishment would apply to the person aiding in an escape as to the person escaping.

The language of this section reconciles the conflict by adopting a penalty which is a compromise between the varying provisions.

Reference to “extradition” was inserted to avoid ambiguity and to harmonize section with section 751 of this title.

References to “force” were omitted as well as those to “officer” or “custody.” See definition of “Rescue,” Black’s Law Dictionary, citing 4 Bl. Comm. 131.

Changes were made in phraseology.

Editorial NotesAmendments

2002—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 107–273 substituted “or conviction of any offense, be fined under this title” for “or conviction of any offense, be fined not more than $5,000”.

1994—Subsecs. (a), (b). Pub. L. 103–322 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $1,000”.

1988—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 100–690 inserted “, or for exclusion or expulsion proceedings under the immigration laws,” after “extradition”.

1965—Pub. L. 89–176 inserted “or facility” after “institution”.

1963—Pub. L. 88–251 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsec. (b).

1956—Act May 28, 1956, inserted “, or attempt to escape,” after “escape”.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 70 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1949–2025 · leading case: United States v. DeStefano, 59 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 1995).

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United States v. DeStefano, 59 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 1995). · cites it 5× “A jury in the United States District Court for the District of Maine found appellant guilty, inter alia, of assisting an escape in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 752 (a). 1 Appellant says that the district court shunned a jury instruction crucial to his defense.”

United States v. Darryl Vowiell, 869 F.2d 1264 (9th Cir. 1989). · cites it 4× “Vowiell, Kathy Record, and David Record were charged with assisting the escape in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 752 1 and conspiracy to assist the escape in violation of 18 U.”

State v. Campbell, 245 S.W.3d 331 (Tenn. 2008). “These decisions, however, are based primarily on the distinction in federal statutes between “the crime of assisting an escape” under 18 U.S.C. § 752 and the crime of “harboring or concealing an escaped prisoner” under 18 U.”

United States v. Gilberto Ocasio, A/K/A Gilberto Ocasio Agosto, 914 F.2d 330 (1st Cir. 1990). · cites it 2× “HOW THE SENTENCE EVENTUATED Ocasio pled guilty to aiding in the 1989 escape of a federal prisoner, one Orlando Saade-Ballesteros (Saade), from the Rio Piedras State Penitentiary, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 752 (a). 1 The district court undertook to calculate the GSR.”

United States v. Boneshirt, 662 F.3d 509 (8th Cir. 2011). · cites it 2× “§ 751 (a), or instigating or assisting an escape under 18 U.S.C. § 752 (b), and faced a statutory maximum sentence of five years.”

United States v. Angelica Lopez, 484 F.3d 1186 (9th Cir. 2007). “1989), was charged with, inter alia, assisting an escape from federal custody, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 752 (1988), and harboring an escapee, in violation of 18 U.”

United States v. James Howard Stewart, 531 F.2d 326 (6th Cir. 1976). · cites it 2× “On January 13, 1975, defendant-appellee, James Howard Stewart, was charged in the Eastern District of Kentucky with aiding and assisting the escape of a codefendant from the Bell County Jail, Pineville, Kentucky, while the latter was awaiting transfer to a federal penitentiary,…”

United States v. Aragon, 983 F.2d 1306 (4th Cir. 1993). · cites it 5× “For the reasons stated below, we conclude that the trial court was correct in its implicit holding that “crime of violence” is a question of law for the court to decide, and that an attempt to rescue or assist a prisoner to escape, 18 U.S.C. § 752 (West 1976 & Supp.1992), is…”

United States v. Juan Antonio Salazar, 66 F.3d 723 (5th Cir. 1995). · cites it 2× “FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On December 16, 1994, a second superseding indictment was returned against Salazar, charging him with assisting the escape of a person under arrest for a felony in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 752 (a) (count two), and aiding and abetting the knowing…”

United States v. Smithers, 27 F.3d 142 (5th Cir. 1994). · cites it 3× “The language about assisting escape moved to 18 U.S.C. § 752 , 13 and the language about harboring and concealing moved to 18 U.”

United States v. Lavance Greene, 834 F.2d 1067 (D.C. Cir. 1988). · cites it 2× “While affirming the felony murder conviction, this court vacated Greene’s conviction on the underlying felony — rescue of a federal prisoner, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 752 (a). In so doing, it avoided the constitutional issue of whether Congress could impose on defendants…”

United States v. Lavance Greene, United States of Am. v. Randolph Greene, 489 F.2d 1145 (D.C. Cir. 1974). · cites it 2× “) The crime of rescuing a federal prisoner is defined by 18 U.S.C. § 752 (a). The appellant argues that the term “any offense” in Section 22-2401 “includes only the local felonies created by D.”

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— 18 U.S.C. § 752(a) — 2 cases

United States v. Aragon, 983 F.2d 1306 (4th Cir. 1993). “For the reasons stated below, we conclude that the trial court was correct in its implicit holding that “crime of violence” is a question of law for the court to decide, and that an attempt to rescue or assist a prisoner to escape, 18 U.S.C. § 752 (West 1976 & Supp.1992), is…”

United States v. Joshua Carl Redman, 35 F.3d 437 (9th Cir. 1994).

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