By: LINDSEY O’NEILL, ESQ.

There have been some very high profile cases of extortion in the news lately: The Robert Halderman / David Letterman case and John Travolata’s son’s death, to name two recent and terrible cases. Seems even more common today because people can sell their stories to the tabloids – giving blackmailers and extortionists a ready outlet to reveal private, or sometimes salacious, stories about others. You might think extortion and blackmail is left to celebrities and other high-profile folks (both in the movies and in real life), but its actually more common than you might think. 

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, about 5% of the total inmate population are serving sentences for extortion, bribery or fraud. (See: BOP Quick Facts.) 

So what exactly is extortion and blackmail? Extortion is defined by Title 18 of the United States Code, Section 1951 as follows:

“Extortion. The obtaining of property from another induced by wrongful use of actual or threatened force, violence, or fear, or under color of official right. 18 U.S.C.A. §871 et seq.; §1951.

“A person is guilty of theft by extortion if he purposely obtains property of another by threatening to: (1) inflict bodily injury on anyone or commit any other criminal offense; or (2) accuse anyone of a criminal offense; or (3) expose any secret tending to subject any person to hatred, contempt or ridicule, or to impair his credit or business repute; or (4) take or withhold action as an official, or cause an official to take or withhold action; or (5) bring about or continue a strike, boycott or other collective unofficial action, if the property is not demanded or received for the benefit of the group in whose interest the actor purports to act; or (6) testify or provide information or withhold testimony or information with respect to another’s legal claim or defense; or (7) inflict any other harm which would not benefit the actor. Model Penal Code, §223.4.” (See also: Black’s Law Dictionary definition.)

Now, blackmail is similar to extortion.  Wikipedia distinguishes blackmail as follows:

“Blackmail is the crime of threatening to reveal substantially true information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand made upon the victim is met. This information is usually of an embarrassing and/or socially damaging nature. As the information is substantially true, the act of revealing the information may not be criminal in its own right nor amount to a civil law defamation; the crime is making demands in exchange for withholding it. English Law creates a much broader definition of blackmail, covering any unwarranted demands with menaces, whether involving revealing information or not.Blackmail is similar to extortion. The difference is that extortion involves an underlying, independent criminal act, while blackmail does not.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigations has primary investigative jurisdiction of offenses in 18 U.S.C. § 1951 – which covers blackmail and extortion. The FBI defines white-collar crime as “. . . those illegal acts which are characterized by deceit, concealment, or violation of trust and which are not dependent upon the application or threat of physical force or violence. Individuals and organizations commit these acts to obtain money, property, or services; to avoid the payment or loss of money or services; or to secure personal or business advantage.” Extortion and blackmail would be covered bythe FBI’s definition  of white collar crime, along with bribery, forgery, embezzlement, countereiting and other fraud. 

The penalty for a criminal conviction for extortion, or related crimes, can be severe, including up to 20 years imprisonment.

For more information about extortion, blackmail, or white collar crimes, visit LawInfo’s Free Legal Resource Center at www.lawinfo.com and www.resources.lawinfo.com.