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What does it mean to be charged with misprision of felony?

On Behalf of | Feb 4, 2025 | Federal Cases

There’s nothing quite as frightening and frustrating as being charged with a crime you’ve never even heard of. However, many people find themselves facing a federal “misprision of felony” charge when they may feel like they’ve done nothing illegal. Just what is that charge?

The misprision of felony statute reads, “Whoever, having knowledge of the actual commission of a felony cognizable by a court of the United States, conceals and does not as soon as possible make known the same to some judge or other person in civil or military authority under the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.”

This might sound like an obstruction of justice or an accessory after the fact charge. In fact, a person could be charged with all three offenses.

How is misprision of felony a unique law?

While these offenses and misprision of felony all typically involve impeding the investigation of a crime and not being fully truthful with authorities, misprision of felony is a unique offense because:

  • The alleged criminal activity being concealed must be a federal offense.
  • The offense must be a felony.
  • A person must take “affirmative steps” to hide the alleged crime or its true nature as opposed to just not reporting it.
  • The person hiding the offense doesn’t have to know the alleged perpetrator – or even know who it is.

This federal crime can be charged in practically any kind of case that involves a federal crime – from drug trafficking to kidnapping to white collar offenses. 

For example, if someone knows that there’s illegal activity occurring in their company and they not only don’t report it to the appropriate law enforcement agency but tell authorities, when asked, that they don’t know anything about it and even delete some files from the company’s systems, they could potentially be charged with misprision of felony in addition to other offenses like obstruction and lying to federal authorities.

It’s crucial to be aware of this law to help avoid facing serious legal consequences (as stated in the law, up to three years in federal prison in addition to a fine). Like any federal charge, if you have been arrested or even if you believe you’re under investigation for it, it’s crucial to get experienced legal guidance as soon as possible.