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(1) A person commits the crime of extortion when the person compels or induces another person to either deliver property or services to the person or to a third person, or refrain from reporting unlawful conduct to a law enforcement agency, by instilling in the other person a fear that, if the property or services are not so delivered or if the unlawful conduct is reported, the actor or a third person will in. Extortion, is a 2017 American thriller film, starring Eion Bailey, Bethany Joy Lenz, Barkhad Abdi, and Danny Glover.

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• Extortion laws in most states do not required that the victim actually hear or receive the threats, nor does the perpetrator have to succeed in the goal of his extortion, as the threat alone constitutes the crime. Degrees of Extortion. Extortion laws vary by state, with many states using degrees of extortion to classify the severity of the crime.
• Introduction: Extortion is both a tort and a crime and is perhaps far more common than most of us think. The image of the sleazy blackmailer demanding money or threatening to publicize an old scandal is seldom the act that leads to litigation involving extortion. Instead, far more subtle actions can lead to allegations that one has committed extortion.

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Extortion

badger game Extortion, blackmail, intimidation achieved through deception; most specifically, the scheme in which a woman entices a man into a compromising situation, and then victimizes him by demanding money when her male accomplice, often pretending to be the enraged husband, arrives on the scene, threatening violence or scandal. The expression, in common use in the United States since the early 1900s, arose from the cruel sport of badger baiting, in which a live badger was placed in a hole or a barrel so that it could be easily attacked by dogs. Thus, to badger came to mean ‘to worry, pester, or harass,’ and, more intensively, in the sense above, ‘to persecute or blackmail.’ The woman decoy in the badger game is called the badger-worker.

bleed To extort money from an individual or an organization; to pay an unreasonable amount of money; to pay through the nose. This slang term has been in use since the 17th century, at which time bleeding was a common surgical practice. Whether bleeding was natural or surgically induced, loss of blood was significant. The significance of money to most people, and the fact that it can be paid out with or without force, makes the figurative use of bleed relating to money a logical extension of the literal meaning.

fry the fat out of To obtain money by high-pressure tactics or extortion; to milk, put the squeeze on. Just as the frying process removes excess fat, so does extortion or high-pressure fund-raising tactics remove the “fat” or excess wealth from the affluent. This now little-used U.S. slang expression dates from the late 19th century.

His main qualification is admitted to be that of a good collector of funds. No one could, in the historic phrase, fry out more fat. (The Nation, April, 1904)

put the bite on To solicit money from, to hit up for a loan; also, to do so through force, thus, to extort money from, to blackmail. Both uses play on the idea of extracting by exerting pressure. The alternate put the bee on is usually limited to the less forceful borrowing sense. Webster’s Third cites Hartley Howard:

… some smooth hoodlum puts the bee on his daughter for two thousand bucks.

The stronger meaning is the more common, however:

Or did he just happen to see what happened and put the bite on you and you paid him a little now and then to avoid scandal? (Raymond Chandler, High Window, 1942)

shakedown Extortion, blackmail; a forced contribution, as for protection. This term originally referred to a method of getting fruits and nuts out of a tree. In its figurative applications, shakedown conjures images of a person’s being turned upside down and shaken to forcefully remove the money from his pockets.

He [a New York City policeman] was fined 30 days’ pay because he would not stand for a “shakedown,” which means that he had refused to give from time to time upon demand 5 or 10 dollars from his meagre salary to his superiors to be used for purposes unknown. (A. Hodder, The Fight For The City, 1903)

Shake down ‘to extort, plunder’ is frequently used as a verb phrase.

For only last week they were shook down for five hundred by a stray fellow from the Department. (J. Barbicon, Confessions of a Rum-Runner, 1927)

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Extortion 2017 Cast

Under federal law, there are many different types of extortion that might be prosecuted as a federal crime. Extortion can stand on its own as a federal offense, or it can be part of a pattern of offenses including bribery and corruption. One of the most pertinent forms of federal extortion is defined in 18 U.S.C. § 872, which provides a penalty of up to three years for agents of the federal government who commit an act of extortion. Extortion stands apart from other forms of racketeering and theft in that it always includes a written or verbal theft.

Extortion Laws

All states have individual laws against extortion. Federal extortion laws focus upon threats that impact federal employees, or threats that come from federal employees themselves. These include appointed personnel, such as federal government workers, as well as elected officials. Extortion may be treated as a federal crime even in cases where no federal entity was a party to the crime if the threat crosses state lines. For example, if a threat is mailed from one state to another, the crime is likely to be treated as a federal matter. The same is possible if the threat was issued over the Internet.

Extortion Crimes & Charges

Federal extortion laws provide protections both to and against federal employees. This is because extortion can be a very powerful way for a corrupt government official to negatively impact the lives of others. Likewise, federal extortion laws also provide for prosecution in cases where the crime involved multiple states or multiple types of offenses. Some charges defined by federal statute include:

• Threats against the President and certain successors to the office of president may be treated as examples of criminal extortion. In many of these cases, the individual making the threat is investigated immediately by the FBI. Intent is used to judge whether further prosecution should be pursued.
• Extortion by any agent of the United States government, including officers and employees, is treated as a federal matter, and can be compounded by the use of federal authority to effect such extortion.
• Mailing threating communications across state lines, even if from a foreign country, can be prosecuted as federal extortion, especially if the intent was to coerce the victim of the threatening communication to give the threatening party some valuable consideration.
• Threats against foreign dignitaries and officials while they are guests of the United States, as well as threats against former Presidents and certain other protected persons, are all prohibited and may fall under federal extortion statutes.
• Receiving the proceeds of extortion, whether or not you are the individual who made the original threats, can result in prosecution for federal extortion. Those who receive the proceeds of extortion may be subject to imprisonment between one and three years, depending on whether they knowingly received those proceeds or not.

Extortion Punishment

Extortion generally results in a prison term and a fine. The specific extent of each of these punishments will depend on the type of extortion that the individual engaged in, whether they were the direct perpetrator or a party to the crime, and whether they knowingly benefited from the crime.

Extortion Sentencing Guidelines

A point system is used to inform the sentencing process in an extortion case. The base offense level is 18, with increases taking place based upon the specific nature of the threat and its material results.

Extortion Statute of Limitations

The federal statute 18 USC 3282 is crucial in determining federal, noncapital statutes of limitations. It provides that an indictment must exist within 60 months of the crime in question or it cannot be prosecuted.

Extortion Laws

Extortion Cases

Federal extortion cases are relatively rare. When they take place, they generally include a wide variety of other charges, such as corruption, bribery, and graft. In recent years, many of those prosecuted under federal extortion laws have been public officials at a municipal or state level. Some examples of recent extortion cases include:

• In May 2013, a former state treasurer of the State of Arkansas, Martha Shoffner, was arrested on federal extortion charges. She was later indicted on multiple charges related to receiving federal funds and other potential crimes. (U.S. Attorney’s Office)
• In 2012, an online sex extortion operation allegedly run by Indiana-based Richard Leon Finkbiner was uncovered. This is believed by many observers to be the largest extortion operation of its kind to date. (News Sentinel)

Extortion Quick Links & References

What Constitutes Extortion

Extortion Laws by State

Extortion Definition

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