en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witness_tampering
1 correction found
Witness tampering via bribery is not covered by 18 U.S.C. § 1512, but is rather prohibited by a different statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1510.
This is inaccurate because federal law specifically criminalizes bribery of witnesses in 18 U.S.C. § 201. Section 1510 is a narrower obstruction statute about bribery to block someone from giving information to a criminal investigator.
Full reasoning
The sentence points readers to 18 U.S.C. § 1510 as the statute that prohibits bribery-based witness tampering, but that is not correct.
The federal statute that expressly covers bribery of witnesses is 18 U.S.C. § 201, titled "Bribery of public officials and witnesses." Its text makes it a crime to give or offer something of value to a person with intent to influence that person's testimony as a witness or to influence the person to absent himself from a proceeding. It also separately prohibits giving something of value for or because of testimony.
By contrast, 18 U.S.C. § 1510(a) is narrower. It covers using bribery to "obstruct, delay, or prevent the communication of information" about a federal crime to a criminal investigator. That is not the same as being the general federal statute for bribing witnesses in proceedings.
So the article's statement is incorrect as written: bribery-based witness misconduct is not simply "rather prohibited" by § 1510. Federal law expressly addresses bribery of witnesses in § 201, while § 1510 covers a narrower investigative-obstruction scenario.
2 sources
- 18 USC 201: Bribery of public officials and witnesses
Section 201 is titled "Bribery of public officials and witnesses" and §201(b)(3) prohibits giving anything of value with intent to influence a person's testimony as a witness or to influence that person to absent himself from a proceeding.
- 18 USC 1510: Obstruction of criminal investigations
Section 1510(a) covers bribery used to "obstruct, delay, or prevent the communication of information relating to a violation of any criminal statute" to "a criminal investigator."