This threatened harm could be the victim's reputation or to any information that would negatively impact their business.
This federal offense involves threats of harm, either economic or physical, that is accomplished by use of wire transmissions, like email, text messages, or other interstate or foreign communications. If someone knows that someone else committed a crime and offers to stay quiet about it for a sum of money, then that person has committed blackmail under federal law.Ī common blackmail or extortion case pursued by a federal prosecutor is related to interstate communications, defined under the related statute 18 U.S.C. The important distinction for a federal blackmail charge is that the secret at issue relates to the violation of the law, which is a misdemeanor offense. “whoever, under a threat of informing, or as a consideration for not informing, against any violation of any law of the United States, demands or receives any money or valuable thing.”.§ 873 under a fairly short definition which describes it as: What is the Legal Definition of Blackmail?īlackmail under federal law is found at 18 U.S.C. Our Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers will review the laws more closely below. It is important to contact an experienced lawyer if you are facing a federal blackmail charge. While this is generally true, the federal crime of blackmail requires specific elements to be met, which will be discussed in detail in the following text.
The term blackmail is often used in many contexts, but most typically involves someone knowing a secret about someone else and wanting something to stay quiet about it. § 873 lays out legal penalties for a someone who demands or receives money, or anything of value, made under threats of informing, or for not informing, which violates federal laws. Put simply, blackmail and extortion is the illegal conduct of demanding money from someone to not report something, such as potentially embarrassing information about the person, or even criminal behavior.ġ8 U.S.C. The federal crime of blackmail normally involves threats to do some act that will harm the victim.
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