18 U.S.C. § 1163
Section 1163 · Embezzlement and theft from Indian tribal organizations
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 102 court decisions — leading case United States v. Wadena (1998)
Most recently applied in Newtok Village v. Andy Patrick (December 2021)
Applied most in the Eighth Circuit Circuit (29 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 28 U.S.C. § 1291 · 18 U.S.C. § 371 · 18 U.S.C. § 666
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Whoever embezzles, steals, knowingly converts to his use or the use of another, willfully misapplies, or willfully permits to be misapplied, any of the moneys, funds, credits, goods, assets, or other property belonging to any Indian tribal organization or intrusted to the custody or care of any officer, employee, or agent of an Indian tribal organization; or
Whoever, knowing any such moneys, funds, credits, goods, assets, or other property to have been so embezzled, stolen, converted, misapplied or permitted to be misapplied, receives, conceals, or retains the same with intent to convert it to his use or the use of another—
Shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both; but if the value of such property does not exceed the sum of $1,000, he shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
As used in this section, the term “Indian tribal organization” means any tribe, band, or community of Indians which is subject to the laws of the United States relating to Indian affairs or any corporation, association, or group which is organized under any of such laws.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1996—Pub. L. 104–294 substituted “$1,000” for “$100” in third par.
1994—Pub. L. 103–322, in third par., substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $5,000” after “Shall be” and for “fined not more than $1,000” after “he shall be”.