18 U.S.C. § 1512 – Tampering With a Witness, Victim, or Informant
This provision targets violence, intimidation, persuasion, and evidence interference aimed at disrupting federal proceedings or investigations.
What the law covers.
Section 1512 is one of the federal system’s primary witness tampering statutes. It criminalizes conduct intended to interfere with testimony, evidence, or communications with federal law enforcement—whether or not a formal case is already underway.
Violence and threats.
The statute imposes the most severe penalties where a person:
- Kills or attempts to kill someone to prevent testimony, evidence production, or communication with federal authorities
- Uses or attempts to use physical force to influence testimony, destroy evidence, or block cooperation
- Threatens physical force to achieve those same objectives
Penalties scale based on the conduct:
- Murder or attempted murder is punished under the federal homicide statutes
- Use or attempted use of force carries up to 30 years
- Threats of force carry up to 20 years
Non-violent witness tampering.
Separate provisions address conduct that does not involve physical force, including:
- Intimidation, threats, or corrupt persuasion
- Misleading conduct toward a witness or informant
- Encouraging someone to withhold testimony or documents
- Inducing destruction, alteration, or concealment of evidence
- Causing a witness to evade or ignore a subpoena
These offenses carry penalties of up to 20 years in prison.
Evidence destruction and proceeding obstruction.
The statute also criminalizes:
- Altering, destroying, or concealing records or objects to impair their use in an official proceeding
- Otherwise obstructing or attempting to obstruct an official proceeding
Harassment-based interference.
Intentional harassment that interferes with reporting crimes, testifying, making arrests, or pursuing prosecutions is punished separately, with exposure of up to 3 years.
Important procedural rules.
- An official proceeding does not need to be pending at the time of the conduct
- The evidence at issue does not need to be admissible
- The government does not need to prove the defendant knew the proceeding was federal
- Conspiracy carries the same penalties as the underlying offense
Affirmative defense.
A defendant may assert that the conduct consisted solely of lawful behavior and was intended only to encourage truthful testimony, but the burden rests on the defense.
If you are facing allegations involving witness tampering or obstruction-related conduct,
contact our federal criminal defense attorneys to discuss your case.
