18 U.S.C. § 2253
Section 2253 · Criminal forfeiture
Amended 6 times on record
Applied in 150 court decisions — leading case United States v. A Parcel of Land Buildings Appurtenances and Improvements Known As 92 Buena Vista Avenue Rumson New Jersey (1993)
Most recently applied in United States v. Padilla-Galarza (March 2018)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 18 U.S.C. § 2252 · 18 U.S.C. § 2251 · 18 U.S.C. § 3553
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) Property Subject to Criminal Forfeiture.—A person who is convicted of an offense under this chapter involving a visual depiction described in section 2251, 2251A, 2252, 2252A, or 2260 of this chapter or who is convicted of an offense under section 2252B of this chapter,,1 or who is convicted of an offense under chapter 109A, shall forfeit to the United States such person's interest in—
(1) any visual depiction described in section 2251, 2251A, or 2252 2 2252A, 2252B, or 2260 of this chapter, or any book, magazine, periodical, film, videotape, or other matter which contains any such visual depiction, which was produced, transported, mailed, shipped or received in violation of this chapter;
(2) any property, real or personal, constituting or traceable to gross profits or other proceeds obtained from such offense; and
(3) any property, real or personal, used or intended to be used to commit or to promote the commission of such offense or any property traceable to such property.
(b) Section 413 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 853) with the exception of subsections (a) and (d), applies to the criminal forfeiture of property pursuant to subsection (a).
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Prior Provisions
A prior section 2253 was redesignated section 2256 of this title.
Amendments
2006—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–248, §505(b)(1), inserted “or who is convicted of an offense under section 2252B of this chapter,” after “2260 of this chapter” and substituted “an offense under chapter 109A” for “an offense under section 2421, 2422, or 2423 of chapter 117” in introductory provisions.
Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 109–248, §505(b)(2), inserted “2252A, 2252B, or 2260” after “2252”.
Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 109–248, §505(b)(3), inserted “or any property traceable to such property” before period at end.
Subsecs. (b) to (o). Pub. L. 109–248, §505(c), added subsec. (b) and struck out former subsecs. (b) to (o) which related, respectively, to third party transfers, protective orders, warrant of seizure, order of forfeiture, execution of order, disposition of property, authority of Attorney General, applicability of civil forfeiture provisions, bar on intervention, jurisdiction to enter orders, depositions, third party interests, construction of section, and substitute assets.
1998—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 105–314 substituted “2252, 2252A, or 2260 of this chapter, or who is convicted of an offense under section 2421, 2422, or 2423 of chapter 117,” for “or 2252 of this chapter”.
1994—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–322, §330011(m)(1), amended directory language of Pub. L. 101–647, §3564(1). See 1990 Amendment note below.
1990—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 101–647, §3564(1), as amended by Pub. L. 103–322, §330011(m)(1), substituted “section 2251” for “sections 2251” in introductory provisions and in par. (1).
Subsec. (h)(4). Pub. L. 101–647, §3564(2), substituted “under section 616 of the Tariff Act of 1930” for “in accordance with the provisions of section 1616, title 19, United States Code”.
1988—Pub. L. 100–690 amended section generally, substituting subsecs. (a) to (o) for former subsecs. (a) to (d).
Effective Date of 1994 Amendment
Section 330011(m) of Pub. L. 103–322 provided that the amendment made by that section is effective as of Nov. 29, 1990.