18 U.S.C. § 957
Section 957 · Possession of property in aid of foreign government
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 5 court decisions — leading case 517 F. Supp. 542 - Hanoch Tel-Oren v. Libyan Arab Republic (1981)
Most recently applied in LUIS (July 1999)
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, in aid of any foreign government, knowingly and willfully possesses or controls any property or papers used or designed or intended for use in violating any penal statute, or any of the rights or obligations of the United States under any treaty or the law of nations, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed. §98 (June 15, 1917, ch. 30, title XI, §22, 40 Stat. 230; Mar. 28, 1940, ch. 72, §8, 54 Stat. 80).
Definition of “foreign government” was omitted and is incorporated in section 11 of this title.
Mandatory punishment provision was rephrased in the alternative.
Minor changes were made in phraseology.
Amendments
1994—Pub. L. 103–322 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $1,000”.
Canal Zone
Applicability of section to Canal Zone, see section 14 of this title.
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
Warrant to search for property used in violation of this section, see rule 41, Appendix to this title.
Cross References
Jurisdiction of offenses under this section, see section 3241 of this title.
Letters, writings, etc., in violation of this section as nonmailable, see section 1717 of this title.