18 U.S.C. § 1502
Section 1502 · Resistance to extradition agent
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 5 court decisions — leading case In Re Grand Jury Subpoena of Williams (1991)
Most recently applied in United States v. Steven Pinto (July 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.
Whoever knowingly and willfully obstructs, resists, or opposes an extradition agent of the United States in the execution of his duties, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, 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., §661 (R.S. 5277).
Said section 661 of title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., was incorporated in this section and section 752 of this title.
Words “an extradition agent of the United States” were substituted for “such agent” which was referred to in sections 3182 et seq. of this title.
A fine of “$300” was substituted for “$1,000” as the mandatory maximum to harmonize with similar offenses in this chapter. (See section 1501 of this title.)
Punishment provision was rephrased in the alternative.
Amendments
1994—Pub. L. 103–322 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $300”.
Cross References
Extradition of fugitives, see section 3181 et seq. of this title.