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Crime Information - a Valuable Commodity
Your Right to Withhold it While Negotiating for Rewards
Rewards from the Government
Each law enforcement branch of government has one or more provisions to pay
rewards for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of anyone
violating the laws under their jurisdiction. Usually, the tipster must
contact the appropriate department first to qualify for the reward from
that department. Since most good rewards are paid under Federal laws, the
person to contact for negotiating rewards is an FBI agent.
Most federal laws offer rewards for information leading to the arrest,
conviction, apprehension of felons. or the recovery of missing equipment.
Your information on criminal activity can be worth anywhere from $100 to
$250,000. CrimeFighters should know how much information they can divulge
to get authorities interested -- without giving them all the information
before they get a binding agreement for payment. It's important to know
where you stand if a law enforcement officer tries to bully you into a full
disclosure without a written agreement to pay a reward.
Information Concerning a Crime
Title 18, Section 4, Misprision of Felony
"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 not more than $500 or
imprisoned not more than 3 years, or both. (June 25, 1948, ch 645, section
1, 62 Stat. 684)"
* * * * * * *
Comment: Misprision is probably an unfamiliar word to you. A simple
translation is concealing or covering up a crime. The term felony might
also need explanation. It was defined by lawmakers as the following:
Title 28, Section 1, Offenses - Classified
Notwithstanding any Act of Congress to the contrary:
(1) Any offense punishable by death or imprisonment for a term exceeding
one year is a felony.
(2) Any other offense is a misdemeanor.
(3) Any misdemeanor, the penalty for which does not exceed imprisonment for
a period of six months or a fine of not more than $500, or both, is a petty
offense." (June 25, 1948)"
* * * * * *
Comment: The above definition was prepared more than 45 years ago! The $500
amount may now be considerably more (or should be). It says a felony is any
crime punishable by death or more than one year in jail. This is a simple
rule of thumb to distinguish between a felony and a misdemeanor. There are
some exceptions, depending on the crime.
Negotiating a Reward
The law of misprision requires some positive action to conceal a crime from
authorities. There was a unique case concerning an informer who made a
partial disclosure to the District Attorney, but the informer withheld the
details while he negotiated a reward. The D.A. got hard-nosed about it and
made threatening noises. The tipster was stubborn. The negotiations
collapsed and the details weren't divulged. As a result, the informer was
charged with misprision of a felony -- but wasn't convicted!
Reason: To successfully prosecute a person for misprision, the intent to
conceal or cover up is essential. Withholding details while an informer
negotiates for a reward is not an positive act of concealment or cover up.
In fact, the intent of the informer is to tell the details; delay was just
a matter of successfully negotiating a reward. A prosecutor would find it
hard to get a conviction of misprision when it may be the FBI agent who
refuses to negotiate in good faith to pay a reasonable reward!
The key word is reasonable. The informer has the right to withhold the
details until negotiations are successfully concluded. On the other hand,
it doesn't mean the FBI agent or D.A. has to agree to pay unrealistic
rewards just because it's demanded. In such an event, the D.A. might be
able to force the informer, by subpoena, to appear in front of a grand jury
and to witness under oath for regular witness fees!
Suggestion: Be reasonable and flexible in your negotiations. See chapter 28
for a formula to use as a guide for negoiating rewards.
Case Law
"Defendant who made truthful, though partial disclosure to Secret Service
of information about counterfeiting operation, but who withheld other
information because Secret Service agent would not pay him for it did not
take affirmative step to conceal crime, and thus his actions did not
constitute misprision of a felony." United States vs Ciambrone (1984, CA9
Nev) 750 F2d 1416)
"Conviction for violation of 18 USCS section 4 requires proof of
affirmative act of concealment and addition to failure to disclose."
People vs West (1980, 408 Mich 332, 291 NW2d 48)
"Mere failure to report felony is not sufficient to sustain conviction for
misprision of felony in that violation of 18 section 4 requires some
positive fact designed to conceal from authorities fact that felony has
been committed." United States vs Davila. (1983, CA5 Tex F2d 715, reh den
(CA5 Tex) 703 F2d 557)
"In order to sustain conviction for misprision of felony, government must
prove that felony was committed, that defendant had knowledge of felony,
that he failed to notify authorities, and that he took affirmative step to
conceal crime." United States vs Davila (1983, CA5 Tex) 698 F2d 715, reh
den (CA5 Tex) 703 F2d 557"
* * * * * *
Case law indicates a CrimeFighter may make a partial disclosure to start
negotiations but can hold back details until an amount is agreed upon and
put in writing. Law enforcement agents can't (and shouldn't) threaten a
CrimeFighter with misprision of a felony because he won't provide full
disclosure without a signed agreement for reasonable payment. The FBI may
not like being forced to be compete with other agencies, but no agent or
agency can force you to divulge the confidential information or prevent you
from shopping for rewards.
If negotiations bog down with an agency, try a different agency, and try
for a better offer - providing it is in their jurisdiction to handle the
prosecution. For example: Drug smuggling involves many law violations and
may come under the FBI, DEA and Customs. State laws may also be applicable.
State Police, Highway Patrol and local Police Departments may be prepared
to offer suitable rewards to obtain 50% of possible fines and forfeitures.
* * * * * *
Informer's Anonymity Guaranteed by Law
Federal law guarantees no one may get the name of the tipster who provides
confidential information or evidence against a lawbreaker.
Title 5 Section (n)68 is a long section that deals with the do's and don'ts
about confidential information. The following are excerpts from Title 5
section 552 (n)68 that relate to restrictions on confidential information.
* * * * * *
"Section 552 Public Information: agency rules, opinions, orders, records
and proceedings.
(a) Each agency shall make available to the public information as follows:
(Part (a) deals with the access to government information and the
availability of non-confidential information. Section (b) deals with the
restrictions)
(7) records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only
to the extent that the production of such law enforcement records or
information (A) could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement
proceedings, (B) would deprive a person of a right to a fair or an
impartial adjudication, (C) could reasonably be expected to disclose the
identity of a confidential source, including a State, local, or foreign
agency or authority or any private institution which furnished information
on a confidential basis, and, in the case of a record of information
compiled by criminal law enforcement authority in the course of a criminal
investigation or by an agency conducting a lawful national security
intelligence investigation, information from a confidential source, (E)
would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations
or prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement
investigations or prosecutions if such disclosure could be reasonably be
expected to risk circumvention of the law, or (F) could reasonably be
expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual."
* * * * * *
An idea of what may be paid for information can be found in Title 28 USCS
524 - Availability of Appropriations. This law authorizes the Attorney
General of the United States to disburse funds to various departments. Of
importance to readers, it also mentions specific reward limits and who may
authorize them.
Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund
Title 28 United States Code (USCS) 524
"(c)(1) There is established in the United States Treasury a special fund
to be known as the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund
(hereinafter in this subsection referred to as the "Fund") which shall be
available to the Attorney General without fiscal year limitation for the
following purposes of the Department of Justice -
(A) the payment, at the discretion of the Attorney General, of any expenses
necessary to seize, detain, inventory, safeguard, maintain, advertise, or
sell property under seizure, detention, or forfeited pursuant to any law
enforced or administered by the Department of Justice, or any other
necessary expenses incident to the seizure, detention, or forfeiture of
such property: such payments may include -
(B) the payment of awards for information or assistance directly relating
to violations of the criminal drug laws of the United States;
(C) the payment of awards for information or assistance leading to a civil
or criminal forfeiture under the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and
Control Act of 1970 (21 sec 800 et seq) or a criminal forfeiture under the
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Statute (18 USC 1961
et seq), at the discretion of the Attorney General.
(G) for purchase of evidence of any violation of the Controlled Substances
Act, the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act, Chapter 96 of Title
18 (sections 1961 et seq) or sections 1956 and 1957 of Title 18; and
Amounts for paying the expenses authorized by subparagraphs (A)(ii), (B),
(C), (F), and (G) shall be specified in appropriations acts. Amounts for
other authorized expenditures and payments from the Fund, including
equitable sharing payments, are not required to be specified in
appropriations acts. The Attorney General may exempt the procurement of
contract service under subparagraph (A) under the fund from section 3709 of
the Revised Statutes of the United States (41 USC 5), title III of the
Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 USC 251 and
following), and other provisions of law as may be necessary to maintain the
security and confidentiality of related criminal investigations.
(2) any award paid from the Fund for information, as provided in paragraph
(1)(B) or (C), shall be paid at the discretion of the Attorney General or
his delegate, under existing departmental delegation policies for the
payment of awards, except the authority to pay an award of $250,000 or more
shall be not be delegated to any person other than the Deputy Attorney
General, the Associate Attorney General, the Director of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, or the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement
Administration. Any award for information pursuant to paragraphs (1)(B)
shall not exceed $250,000. Any award for information pursuant to paragraph
(1)(C) shall not exceed the lesser of $250,000 or one-fourth of the amount
realized by the United States from the property forfeited.
(9) There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as necessary for the
purposes described in subparagraphs (A)(ii), (B), (C), (F) and (G) of
paragraph (1). At the end of each of fiscal years 1990, 1991, and 1992,
unobligated amounts not to exceed $150,000,000 remaining in the fund shall
be deposited in the Special Forfeiture Fund, except that an amount not to
exceed $150,000,000 or, if determined necessary by the Attorney General to
meet asset specific expenses, an amount equal to one-twelfth of the
previous year's expenditures may be carried forward and remain available
for appropriation in the next fiscal year.
(10) For the purposes of this subsection, property is forfeited pursuant to
a law enforced or administered by the Department of Justice if it is
forfeited pursuant to -
(A) any criminal forfeiture proceeding;
(B) any civil forfeiture proceeding; or
(C) any civil administrative forfeiture proceeding conducted by the
Department of Justice, except to the extent that the seizure was effected
by a Customs officer or that custody was maintained by the United States
Customs Service in which case the provisions of section 613A of the Tariff
Act of 1930 (19 USC 1613A) shall apply."
As amended Nov. 18, 1988 P.L. 100-690, Title VI, Subtitle B, section 102
Stat 4320)"
* * * * * *
Another, similar fund is the Customs Forfeiture Fund, mentioned in more
detail in Chapter 14.
As you can see, awards (or rewards) authorized paid under subparagraph
(1)(B) or (C) can be up to $250,000! Of course that doesn't mean all
rewards will be that amount. That's the maximum authorized. The reward for
turning in a small-time teenage dope dealer, peddling marijuana, for
example, might net you $1,000 but probably not much more. It's difficult
to state a specific amount for any level of criminal activity because each
situation varies and that's why it's negotiable. The reward amount depends
on many factors, including personal risks involved.
The above is basic information to determine a reward amount that may be
worth anywhere from $1,000 to $250,000. The U.S. District Attorney or an
FBI agent is the one you negotiate with. They are bound by existing
departmental policies (or guidelines) for the payment of awards.
Incidentally, if an agent or agency says they are restricted by such
guidelines to pay minimal rewards, that's their problem, not yours. Take it
to the highest bidder. "Guidelines" aren't inflexible. They can be changed
if they want the case bad enough. When there's a lot of money in fines and
forfeitures, and they get half, they may bend the rules to pay you half. If
not, try someone else. If no one is interested in paying 50 percent of
fines and forfeitures to you as a reward, the lawbreaker might be very
happy to settle your civil suit for the same amount -- 50% of anticipated
and pending fines and forfeitures -- for reduced charges.
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