18 U.S.C. § 1512 : US Code - Section 1512: Tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant

Search 18 U.S.C. § 1512 : US Code - Section 1512: Tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant

(a)(1) Whoever kills or attempts to kill another person, with
intent to -
(A) prevent the attendance or testimony of any person in an
official proceeding;
(B) prevent the production of a record, document, or other
object, in an official proceeding; or
(C) prevent the communication by any person to a law
enforcement officer or judge of the United States of information
relating to the commission or possible commission of a Federal
offense or a violation of conditions of probation, parole, or
release pending judicial proceedings;
shall be punished as provided in paragraph (3).
(2) Whoever uses physical force or the threat of physical force
against any person, or attempts to do so, with intent to -
(A) influence, delay, or prevent the testimony of any person in
an official proceeding;
(B) cause or induce any person to -
(i) withhold testimony, or withhold a record, document, or
other object, from an official proceeding;
(ii) alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal an object with
intent to impair the integrity or availability of the object
for use in an official proceeding;
(iii) evade legal process summoning that person to appear as
a witness, or to produce a record, document, or other object,
in an official proceeding; or
(iv) be absent from an official proceeding to which that
person has been summoned by legal process; or
(C) hinder, delay, or prevent the communication to a law
enforcement officer or judge of the United States of information
relating to the commission or possible commission of a Federal
offense or a violation of conditions of probation, supervised
release, parole, or release pending judicial proceedings;
shall be punished as provided in paragraph (3).
(3) The punishment for an offense under this subsection is -
(A) in the case of murder (as defined in section 1111), the
death penalty or imprisonment for life, and in the case of any
other killing, the punishment provided in section 1112;
(B) in the case of -
(i) an attempt to murder; or
(ii) the use or attempted use of physical force against any
person;
imprisonment for not more than 20 years; and
(C) in the case of the threat of use of physical force against
any person, imprisonment for not more than 10 years.
(b) Whoever knowingly uses intimidation, threatens, or corruptly
persuades another person, or attempts to do so, or engages in
misleading conduct toward another person, with intent to -
(1) influence, delay, or prevent the testimony of any person in
an official proceeding;
(2) cause or induce any person to -
(A) withhold testimony, or withhold a record, document, or
other object, from an official proceeding;
(B) alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal an object with
intent to impair the object's integrity or availability for use
in an official proceeding;
(C) evade legal process summoning that person to appear as a
witness, or to produce a record, document, or other object, in
an official proceeding; or
(D) be absent from an official proceeding to which such
person has been summoned by legal process; or
(3) hinder, delay, or prevent the communication to a law
enforcement officer or judge of the United States of information
relating to the commission or possible commission of a Federal
offense or a violation of conditions of probation (!1) supervised
release,,(!1) parole, or release pending judicial proceedings;
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten
years, or both.
(c) Whoever corruptly -
(1) alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record,
document, or other object, or attempts to do so, with the intent
to impair the object's integrity or availability for use in an
official proceeding; or
(2) otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official
proceeding, or attempts to do so,
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20
years, or both.
(d) Whoever intentionally harasses another person and thereby
hinders, delays, prevents, or dissuades any person from -
(1) attending or testifying in an official proceeding;
(2) reporting to a law enforcement officer or judge of the
United States the commission or possible commission of a Federal
offense or a violation of conditions of probation (!1) supervised
release,,(!1) parole, or release pending judicial proceedings;
(3) arresting or seeking the arrest of another person in
connection with a Federal offense; or
(4) causing a criminal prosecution, or a parole or probation
revocation proceeding, to be sought or instituted, or assisting
in such prosecution or proceeding;
or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned
not more than one year, or both.
(e) In a prosecution for an offense under this section, it is an
affirmative defense, as to which the defendant has the burden of
proof by a preponderance of the evidence, that the conduct
consisted solely of lawful conduct and that the defendant's sole
intention was to encourage, induce, or cause the other person to
testify truthfully.
(f) For the purposes of this section -
(1) an official proceeding need not be pending or about to be
instituted at the time of the offense; and
(2) the testimony, or the record, document, or other object
need not be admissible in evidence or free of a claim of
privilege.
(g) In a prosecution for an offense under this section, no state
of mind need be proved with respect to the circumstance -
(1) that the official proceeding before a judge, court,
magistrate judge, grand jury, or government agency is before a
judge or court of the United States, a United States magistrate
judge, a bankruptcy judge, a Federal grand jury, or a Federal
Government agency; or
(2) that the judge is a judge of the United States or that the
law enforcement officer is an officer or employee of the Federal
Government or a person authorized to act for or on behalf of the
Federal Government or serving the Federal Government as an
adviser or consultant.
(h) There is extraterritorial Federal jurisdiction over an
offense under this section.
(i) A prosecution under this section or section 1503 may be
brought in the district in which the official proceeding (whether
or not pending or about to be instituted) was intended to be
affected or in the district in which the conduct constituting the
alleged offense occurred.
(j) If the offense under this section occurs in connection with a
trial of a criminal case, the maximum term of imprisonment which
may be imposed for the offense shall be the higher of that
otherwise provided by law or the maximum term that could have been
imposed for any offense charged in such case.
(k) Whoever conspires to commit any offense under this section
shall be subject to the same penalties as those prescribed for the
offense the commission of which was the object of the conspiracy.