18 U.S.C. § 373 — Solicitation to commit a crime of violence
submitted 42 years ago by Pub. L. 98-473 to r/title-18-CRIMES-AND-CRIMINAL-PROCEDURE · 275 words · no verdicts yet
It's a federal crime to try to talk someone into committing a violent felony, if the circumstances strongly show you meant it. The punishment scales with the crime you solicited, up to twenty years if it's punishable by life or death. Voluntarily stopping the crime before it happens is a defense, but the solicited person's own excuses are not.
(a) It's a crime to try, with intent, to get someone else to commit a felony that involves using, attempting, or threatening physical force against a person or property, in violation of federal law — as long as the circumstances strongly back up that intent. Whoever solicits, commands, induces, or otherwise tries to persuade another person to commit such a crime can be imprisoned for up to half the maximum term for that crime, or fined up to half the maximum fine for it (despite section 3571), or both; if the solicited crime carries life imprisonment or death, the defendant can be imprisoned up to twenty years instead.
(b) It's an affirmative defense that the defendant, having truly and completely given up the criminal intent, prevented the crime from happening. Giving up isn't "voluntary and complete" if it's motivated even partly by wanting to delay the crime, pick a different victim, or choose another similar target. If the defendant raises this defense at trial, the defendant must prove it by a preponderance of the evidence.
(c) It is not a defense that the person who was solicited could not actually be convicted of the crime — for example, because they lacked the required state of mind, were legally incompetent or not responsible, or were immune from or not subject to prosecution.
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.
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.
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.
Source credit: (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.)
- 1984Enacted · Pub. L. 98-473 · 98 Stat. 2138
- 1986Amended · Pub. L. 99-646 · 100 Stat. 3597
- 1994Amended · Pub. L. 103-322 · 108 Stat. 2148
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 98-473 on 1984-10-12.
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