The federal criminal code covers hundreds of offenses, but a working federal crimes list groups them into a handful of categories: crimes against the person, crimes against property, financial and white-collar offenses, drug crimes, cybercrimes, and offenses against public order and justice. Most sit in Title 18 or Title 21 of the U.S. Code, and every one of them is sorted by severity under a single classification system that ties the offense class to the maximum prison term.
How Federal Offenses Are Ranked
Every federal crime is a felony, a misdemeanor, or an infraction. The line between them is the maximum prison sentence.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3559 – Sentencing Classification of Offenses
Felonies break into five classes. Class A covers offenses punishable by life imprisonment or death, such as first-degree murder and large-scale drug trafficking. Class B covers twenty-five years or more. Class C runs ten to less than twenty-five. Class D runs five to less than ten. Class E covers more than one year but less than five, and includes offenses like perjury and simple tax evasion.
Misdemeanors split three ways. Class A is more than six months up to one year, which is where simple drug possession lives. Class B is more than thirty days up to six months. Class C is more than five days up to thirty days. Infractions sit at the bottom, with five days or less of confinement or none at all, and typically pick up minor regulatory violations on federal property.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3559 – Sentencing Classification of Offenses
Crimes Against the Person
Murder and Manslaughter
Federal murder requires an unlawful killing committed with malice aforethought, meaning the killer intended the death or acted with extreme disregard for human life.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1111 – Murder First-degree murder covers premeditated killings and killings during certain other serious crimes like robbery, kidnapping, or arson; a conviction brings the death penalty or life in prison. Second-degree murder covers intentional killings without advance planning and carries any term of years up to life, with no statutory minimum.
Manslaughter is unlawful killing without malice. Voluntary manslaughter (a killing in the heat of passion or during a sudden confrontation) carries up to fifteen years. Involuntary manslaughter (deaths caused by reckless or negligent conduct) carries up to eight years.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1112 – Manslaughter
Assault and Kidnapping
Federal assault charges apply within special maritime and territorial jurisdiction. Assault with intent to commit murder can bring up to twenty years. Assault with a dangerous weapon causing serious injury carries up to ten. Simple assault may bring as little as six months.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 113 – Assaults Within Maritime and Territorial Jurisdiction
Kidnapping means seizing or confining someone against their will. The baseline sentence is any term of years up to life, and the death penalty is available if the victim dies during the crime. When the victim is a child under eighteen taken by a non-family member, a twenty-year mandatory minimum applies.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1201 – Kidnapping
Aggravated Sexual Abuse
Forcing another person into a sexual act through violence, threats, or incapacitation is one of the most heavily punished federal offenses, carrying any term of years up to life. When the victim is a child under twelve, the mandatory minimum is thirty years, and a second conviction for the same offense against a child triggers a mandatory life sentence.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2241 – Aggravated Sexual Abuse
Hate Crimes
The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act makes it a federal offense to cause or attempt to cause bodily injury because of a victim’s race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The base penalty is up to ten years. If the attack results in death or involves kidnapping or an attempt to kill, the sentence becomes any term of years or life.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 249 – Hate Crime Acts
Crimes Against Property
Robbery, Theft, and Burglary
Robbery is taking something of value from another person through force or intimidation, and that confrontation is what separates it from ordinary theft. Federal robbery within special maritime and territorial jurisdiction carries up to fifteen years.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2111 – Special Maritime and Territorial Jurisdiction
Theft offenses lack force and focus on the unauthorized taking of property with the intent to keep it. Charges are often graded by dollar value: higher-value theft as a felony, lower-value as a misdemeanor. Burglary requires unlawfully entering a building with the specific intent to commit a crime inside, most often theft.
Arson
Federal arson covers anyone who intentionally sets fire to a building, structure, or vessel within federal jurisdiction. The baseline penalty is up to twenty-five years plus a fine that can equal the cost of repairing or replacing the damaged property. If the fire involves a dwelling or puts a life at risk, the sentence rises to any term of years up to life.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 81 – Arson Within Special Maritime and Territorial Jurisdiction
Financial and White-Collar Crimes
Mail and Wire Fraud
Mail fraud targets anyone who uses the postal service or a commercial carrier to carry out a scheme designed to cheat people out of money or property. The maximum penalty is twenty years. If the scheme targets a financial institution, the ceiling rises to thirty years and a fine of up to $1 million.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1341 – Frauds and Swindles
Wire fraud follows the same structure but covers schemes carried out through electronic communications like phone calls, emails, or internet transfers. Penalties mirror mail fraud: twenty years normally, thirty when a financial institution is affected.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1343 – Fraud by Wire, Radio, or Television Both offenses turn on a deliberate scheme to deceive.
RICO
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act targets people who run or participate in criminal enterprises. The statute prohibits using racketeering income to invest in or operate a business, acquiring a business through a pattern of criminal activity, and conducting a business’s affairs through ongoing criminal conduct.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1962 – Prohibited Activities A conviction carries up to twenty years per count, or life if the underlying crime itself carries a life sentence. On top of prison time, a convicted person must forfeit any interest, property, or proceeds gained through the racketeering activity; courts have no discretion on forfeiture.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1963 – Criminal Penalties
Money Laundering and Embezzlement
Money laundering involves running illegally obtained funds through transactions designed to disguise where the money came from. Penalties reach twenty years in prison and fines of $500,000 or twice the value of the laundered funds, whichever is greater.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1956 – Laundering of Monetary Instruments Prosecutors also frequently pair laundering charges with the underlying crime that generated the funds.
Embezzlement occurs when someone in a position of trust, like an employee or a financial officer, diverts money or assets they were entrusted to manage. The applicable statute and penalty depend on the context, but the common thread is a breach of trust rather than any use of force.
Tax Evasion
Willfully trying to evade or defeat a federal tax obligation is a felony carrying up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000 for individuals or $500,000 for corporations, plus the costs of prosecution.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 7201 – Attempt to Evade or Defeat Tax A math error is not evasion; prosecutors must show a deliberate attempt to avoid a tax known to be owed, which is why criminal cases tend to involve hidden income, fake deductions, or offshore accounts.
Insider Trading
Trading securities based on material, nonpublic information violates federal securities law. Criminal insider trading can bring up to twenty years in prison and fines of up to $5 million for individuals. On the civil side, the SEC can force violators to give back their profits and impose a penalty of up to three times the profit gained or loss avoided.
Drug and Controlled Substance Offenses
The Five Schedules
Federal law sorts controlled substances into five schedules based on abuse potential and accepted medical use. Schedule I includes drugs with high abuse potential and no recognized medical application, such as heroin and LSD. Schedule II covers substances that are also highly addictive but have legitimate medical uses under tight restrictions, like fentanyl and methamphetamine. Schedules III through V carry progressively lower abuse potential.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 21 USC 812 – Schedules of Controlled Substances Schedule placement drives how harshly possession and distribution are punished.
Possession
Possessing a controlled substance without a valid prescription is a federal crime. A first offense for simple possession carries up to one year in prison and a minimum fine of $1,000.17Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 21 USC 844 – Penalties for Simple Possession Repeat offenses escalate significantly, and larger quantities can push the charge from simple possession into possession with intent to distribute, which falls under the trafficking statutes.
Manufacturing and Trafficking
Manufacturing, distributing, or possessing drugs with intent to distribute is a serious felony, and sentences track both the drug type and the quantity. Trafficking one kilogram or more of heroin, five kilograms or more of cocaine, or 400 grams or more of fentanyl triggers a mandatory minimum of ten years to life. If someone dies or suffers serious injury from using the distributed substance, the mandatory minimum rises to twenty years.18Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 21 USC 841 – Prohibited Acts A
Cybercrimes and Identity Offenses
Computer Fraud and Abuse
The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act covers a broad range of digital misconduct, from hacking into government networks to damaging private computer systems. Accessing national security information carries up to ten years for a first offense and twenty for a second. Accessing a computer to commit fraud carries up to five years for a first offense and ten for a second. Unauthorized access to a protected computer carries up to one year normally, or up to five years if done for financial gain, to further another crime, or when the stolen information is worth more than $5,000. Intentionally damaging a computer system carries up to ten years for a first offense and twenty for a subsequent one. If intentional damage causes serious bodily injury, the penalty reaches twenty years; if it causes death, the sentence can run up to life.19Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1030 – Fraud and Related Activity in Connection With Computers
Aggravated Identity Theft
Aggravated identity theft adds a mandatory two-year prison term on top of whatever sentence the underlying crime carries. Commit wire fraud using someone else’s identity, and you serve the fraud sentence first, then the two-year identity theft term consecutively. Courts cannot run them concurrently or shave the underlying sentence to compensate, and probation is not available.20Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1028A – Aggravated Identity Theft
Crimes Against Public Order and Justice
Perjury and Obstruction
Perjury is deliberately stating something false while under oath, whether in a courtroom, a deposition, or a document signed under penalty of perjury. A conviction carries up to five years.21Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC Chapter 79 – Perjury – Section 1621
Obstruction of justice reaches a wider range of conduct: intimidating a juror, threatening a court officer, tampering with evidence, or interfering with an ongoing investigation. The general penalty is up to ten years. If the obstruction involves an attempted killing or occurs in a case involving a Class A or B felony, the maximum rises to twenty years.22Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1503 – Influencing or Injuring Officer or Juror Generally
Firearms Offenses
Federal law bars several categories of people from possessing any firearm or ammunition: anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison, fugitives, people who use or are addicted to controlled substances, anyone adjudicated as mentally defective or committed to a mental institution, people under certain domestic violence restraining orders, and anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.23Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts Violating a possession ban carries up to fifteen years. Other firearms offenses, like transporting a gun interstate with the intent to commit a felony or illegally transferring a handgun to a juvenile who intends to use it in a violent crime, carry up to ten years.24Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 924 – Penalties
How Long Prosecutors Have to File Charges
Federal prosecutors do not have unlimited time. The general rule is five years from the date of the offense for any crime not punishable by death.25Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3282 – Offenses Not Capital Miss that window, and the prosecution is barred.
Some offenses have no time limit. Capital crimes, including murder carrying a potential death sentence, can be charged at any time. Congress has also carved out exceptions for certain terrorism-related offenses that result in death or serious injury. Individual statutes sometimes set their own deadlines: certain fraud offenses allow up to ten years, and some child exploitation crimes extend even further. Whether a situation falls under the default five-year rule or a special exception matters, because a missed deadline can permanently bar charges.