18 U.S.C. § 216
Section 216 · Penalties and injunctions
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 32 court decisions — leading case Chrysler Corporation v. Brown (1979)
Most recently applied in Bader v. United States (April 2024)
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.
(a) The punishment for an offense under section 203, 204, 205, 207, 208, or 209 of this title is the following:
(1) Whoever engages in the conduct constituting the offense shall be imprisoned for not more than one year or fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both.
(2) Whoever willfully engages in the conduct constituting the offense shall be imprisoned for not more than five years or fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both.
(b) The Attorney General may bring a civil action in the appropriate United States district court against any person who engages in conduct constituting an offense under section 203, 204, 205, 207, 208, or 209 of this title and, upon proof of such conduct by a preponderance of the evidence, such person shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $50,000 for each violation or the amount of compensation which the person received or offered for the prohibited conduct, whichever amount is greater. The imposition of a civil penalty under this subsection does not preclude any other criminal or civil statutory, common law, or administrative remedy, which is available by law to the United States or any other person.
(c) If the Attorney General has reason to believe that a person is engaging in conduct constituting an offense under section 203, 204, 205, 207, 208, or 209 of this title, the Attorney General may petition an appropriate United States district court for an order prohibiting that person from engaging in such conduct. The court may issue an order prohibiting that person from engaging in such conduct if the court finds that the conduct constitutes such an offense. The filing of a petition under this section does not preclude any other remedy which is available by law to the United States or any other person.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Prior Provisions
A prior section 216, acts June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 695, §216, formerly §221, amended Aug. 21, 1958, Pub. L. 85–699, title VII, §702(a)–(c), 72 Stat. 698; Aug. 18, 1959, Pub. L. 86–168, title I, §104(h), 73 Stat. 387, and renumbered Oct. 23, 1962, Pub. L. 87–849, §1(d), 76 Stat. 1125, which related to receipt or charge of commissions or gifts for farm loan, land bank, or small business transactions, was repealed by Pub. L. 98–473, title II, §1107(b), Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2146.
Another prior section 216, act June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 694, which related to procurement of a contract by an officer or Member of Congress, was repealed by section 1(c) of Pub. L. 87–849.
Amendments
1990—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 101–280, §5(f)(1), substituted “section 203, 204, 205, 207, 208, or 209” for “sections 203, 204, 205, 207, 208, and 209”.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 101–280, §5(f)(2), substituted “section 203, 204, 205, 207, 208, or 209” for “sections 203, 204, 205, 207, 208, and 209”.