For most federal crimes, the federal statute of limitations gives prosecutors five years from the date of the offense to bring charges. That default comes from 18 U.S.C. 3282 and applies unless Congress has set a different deadline for the specific crime. Miss the window, and charges filed even a day late can be dismissed. But the five-year rule is only the starting point. Dozens of statutes lengthen it, a handful eliminate it, and several rules pause the clock while it runs.
The Five-Year Default
Section 3282 covers every federal offense that isn’t punishable by death, unless another statute says otherwise. The government must obtain an indictment or file a charging document within five years after the crime was committed.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3282 – Offenses Not Capital
Expiration is treated as an affirmative defense. The court will not raise it on its own, and a defendant who fails to assert it before or during trial can waive it permanently. Even a plainly untimely case stands unless someone objects.
Section 3282 also carries a narrow exception for sexual assault cases where the perpetrator is unknown. Prosecutors can return a “John Doe” indictment identifying the suspect by DNA profile alone, provided it is filed within the five-year window. Once filed, that DNA indictment remains valid until the suspect is identified and arrested.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3282 – Offenses Not Capital
When the Clock Starts Running
The limitations period begins the day the offense is complete. For a single-act crime like bank robbery, that is the day of the robbery. The clock starts the moment the last element of the crime is satisfied, whether or not law enforcement knows anything happened. Federal criminal law generally does not use a discovery rule that would delay the start until investigators learn of the offense.
Continuing Offenses and Conspiracy
For ongoing conduct like conspiracy, the clock doesn’t start until the last act in furtherance of the scheme is committed by any participant.2Department of Justice Archives. Criminal Resource Manual 651 – Statute of Limitations for Continuing Offenses A conspiracy running from 2018 through 2024, for example, has its five-year clock start in 2024, leaving charges viable through 2029.
An individual conspirator can trigger an earlier clock by formally withdrawing. Withdrawal requires an affirmative step: either confessing to authorities or clearly telling co-conspirators you are done. Simply going quiet is not enough.3Department of Justice Archives. Criminal Resource Manual 652 – Statute of Limitations for Conspiracy Once you withdraw, your personal five-year period starts, even if the conspiracy itself continues.
Federal Crimes With Longer Deadlines or None
Congress has overridden the five-year default for many categories of offense. Some deadlines are considerably longer; a few don’t exist at all.
Capital Offenses
Any federal crime punishable by death can be prosecuted at any time. There is no deadline.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3281 – Capital Offenses
Crimes Against Children
Federal law takes two different approaches here. Under 18 U.S.C. 3283, offenses involving the sexual abuse, physical abuse, or kidnapping of a child under 18 can be prosecuted during the life of the victim or for ten years after the offense, whichever is longer.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3283 – Offenses Against Children Section 3299 goes further and eliminates any time limit for federal felonies involving child sexual exploitation, sex trafficking of minors, and kidnapping of a minor.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3299 – Child Abduction and Sex Offenses For those crimes, charges can be brought at any point.
Financial Institution Crimes
Offenses involving banks and other financial institutions carry a ten-year deadline. Bank fraud, embezzlement from a financial institution, and related crimes qualify. Mail fraud and wire fraud also get the ten-year period when the scheme affects a financial institution.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3293 – Financial Institution Offenses
Non-Capital Terrorism
Terrorism offenses that aren’t punishable by death carry an eight-year period under 18 U.S.C. 3286.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3286 – Extension of Statute of Limitation for Certain Terrorism Offenses The list of covered offenses is broad and includes crimes against diplomats and certain aircraft-related crimes.
Tax Crimes
Federal tax offenses follow their own deadlines under 26 U.S.C. 6531. Most fall into one of two tiers:
- Six years for tax evasion, willful failure to file a return, willful failure to pay tax, filing a false return, and conspiracy to evade taxes.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6531 – Periods of Limitation on Criminal Prosecutions
- Three years for less serious violations like failure to keep required records or supply information.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6531 – Periods of Limitation on Criminal Prosecutions
If a tax-related charge is brought under Title 18 rather than the Internal Revenue Code, such as a false statement under 18 U.S.C. 1001, the standard five-year period applies instead.
Theft of Major Artwork
One of the longest windows in federal law belongs to theft of major artwork: twenty years under 18 U.S.C. 3294.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3294 – Theft of Major Artwork
RICO
Despite RICO’s reputation, criminal charges under 18 U.S.C. 1962 don’t have their own extended period. They fall under the default five-year rule. Because RICO cases often involve ongoing enterprises, prosecutors typically argue under the continuing-offense doctrine that the clock did not begin until the last act of racketeering.
What Pauses the Clock
Several statutes can freeze the limitations period while it runs.
Fleeing From Justice
Under 18 U.S.C. 3290, the clock stops entirely for anyone “fleeing from justice.”11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3290 – Fugitives From Justice Time spent leaving the country or hiding to avoid prosecution does not count. The clock resumes when the person is apprehended or becomes available for prosecution.
Foreign Evidence Requests
When key evidence is abroad, the government can ask a federal court to suspend the limitations period while it pursues that evidence through formal channels. Under 18 U.S.C. 3292, the suspension begins with the official request and ends when the foreign authority takes final action. Total suspension cannot exceed three years.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3292 – Suspension of Limitations to Permit United States to Obtain Foreign Evidence
Wartime Fraud Suspension
For any offense involving fraud against the United States government, the limitations period is suspended while the country is at war or Congress has authorized the use of military force. The suspension continues until five years after the end of hostilities, as declared by presidential proclamation or a congressional resolution.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3287 – Wartime Suspension of Limitations Because authorizations for the use of military force can remain in effect for years, this provision can push the prosecution window for defense-contract fraud well beyond what would otherwise apply.
Sealed Indictments and Re-Indictment After Dismissal
Sealed indictments do not extend the statute of limitations. What matters is the date the indictment is filed with the court, not when the defendant learns about it. Prosecutors can file an indictment under seal just before the deadline and unseal it months or years later. As long as the grand jury returned it within the limitations period, the deadline is satisfied.
A different rule applies when an indictment is dismissed after the limitations period has already expired. Under 18 U.S.C. 3288, if a felony indictment is thrown out for any reason after the deadline has passed, prosecutors get a six-month window to file new charges. If an appeal is involved, the window is 60 days from the date the dismissal becomes final.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3288 – Indictments and Information Dismissed After Period of Limitations A parallel rule under 18 U.S.C. 3289 covers dismissals that happen before the limitations period expires but with fewer than six months on the clock.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3289 – Indictments and Information Dismissed Before Period of Limitations
Neither provision saves a case that was dismissed because the government failed to file within the limitations period in the first place. The grace period is for procedural problems with a timely case, not a second chance at a late one.
Statute of Limitations Is Not the Speedy Trial Right
The two rules cover different stages. The statute of limitations governs the period before charges are filed and controls how long the government can wait to prosecute. Once an indictment is returned within the window, the statute of limitations has done its work and drops out of the case. Post-charge delay is governed instead by the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. 3161, and the Sixth Amendment.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3161 – Time Limits and Exclusions If the concern is how long a case has sat after arrest or indictment, those are the rules to look at, not Section 3282.