The penalty for lying under oath in federal court is up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1621 – Perjury Generally2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3571 – Sentence of Fine The crime is called perjury, and every state punishes it too, most as a felony. The sentence is only part of the damage: a conviction leaves a permanent felony record that can cost you professional licenses, firearm rights, and in some states voting rights, and it can unravel the very case where the lie was told.
The Federal Prison Term and Fine
Federal law treats perjury as a felony. The general perjury statute sets a maximum of five years in prison, a fine, or both.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1621 – Perjury Generally The fine ceiling comes from the federal sentencing statute, which caps felony fines for individuals at $250,000.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3571 – Sentence of Fine
A separate statute covers false declarations made before a court or grand jury. It carries the same five-year maximum, with one exception: a false declaration made before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court can draw up to ten years.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1623 – False Declarations Before Grand Jury or Court
A federal judge can also impose supervised release after prison, with conditions such as check-ins, travel restrictions, and community service.
What Prosecutors Actually Have to Prove
Not every untrue statement given under oath is perjury. Federal law requires the government to prove several elements beyond a reasonable doubt, and the gap between an honest mistake and a crime is where most of these cases are won or lost.
The statement must have been made under an oath administered by someone authorized to give it, or in a written document signed under penalty of perjury.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1621 – Perjury Generally Federal law lets unsworn written declarations signed under penalty of perjury stand in for traditional sworn affidavits in most situations, so lying on a tax return, a bankruptcy filing, a benefits application, or a court declaration can trigger the statute just as readily as lying on the witness stand.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1746 – Unsworn Declarations Under Penalty of Perjury
The lie has to be about a “material matter,” meaning something with the potential to influence the proceeding. A lie about your whereabouts during a crime is material. A misstatement about something irrelevant is not.
And the speaker must have known the statement was false when they made it. The statute uses the phrase “does not believe to be true,” which puts the focus on the speaker’s state of mind.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1621 – Perjury Generally Faulty memory, confusion, and good-faith errors are not perjury. If prosecutors cannot show deliberate lying, they cannot win a conviction, and that is a large part of why perjury charges are brought less often than the volume of courtroom lying would suggest.
State Penalties
Every state criminalizes perjury, and most classify it as a felony. The specifics vary. Some states treat all perjury the same way; others punish it more harshly based on context, so lying under oath at a capital murder trial can draw a stiffer sentence than lying in a civil dispute. Maximum prison terms at the state level generally run from two to fifteen years depending on the jurisdiction and the severity of the offense, and fines can reach $10,000 or more. Because the statutes differ so widely, anyone facing a state charge needs to look at the law of the state where the lie was told.
Related Charges Prosecutors Often Add or Substitute
When perjury itself is hard to prove, or when the dishonesty happened outside a sworn proceeding, prosecutors have other tools that carry similar penalties.
False Statements to the Federal Government
You do not need to be under oath to commit a federal crime by lying. Making a knowingly false material statement to any branch of the federal government is a separate felony punishable by up to five years in prison. This is the statute used to charge people who lie to an FBI agent, submit a fraudulent document to a federal agency, or conceal a material fact from a federal official. If the false statement involves domestic or international terrorism, the maximum rises to eight years.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1001 – Statements or Entries Generally Prosecutors reach for it often because it does not require proof that an oath was administered.
Subornation of Perjury
Convincing someone else to lie under oath is its own felony, with the same up-to-five-years penalty as perjury itself.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1622 – Subornation of Perjury The other person must have actually committed perjury for this charge to stick. If the witness refuses or tells the truth anyway, the subornation charge fails, though obstruction of justice may still be on the table.
Obstruction of Justice
Obstruction is a broader category that covers any deliberate interference with the legal process. Perjury and false statements can both qualify, as can destroying evidence, threatening witnesses, or tampering with an investigation. Prosecutors sometimes stack obstruction on top of perjury, or substitute it when the dishonest conduct does not fit the perjury elements cleanly.
Collateral Consequences That Outlast the Sentence
Prison and fines are the start, not the end. A perjury conviction is a felony, and the collateral consequences reshape a life long after any sentence is served.
Employment gets harder, especially in fields that require background checks or positions of trust. Professional licenses for attorneys, doctors, accountants, and real estate agents are subject to revocation or denial based on a felony involving dishonesty, and perjury is especially damaging because it speaks directly to credibility and character.
Federal law bars anyone convicted of a felony from possessing firearms. Many states strip voting rights from people with felony convictions; some restore them automatically after the sentence is finished, others require a petition or legislative action.
The underlying case can also come apart. A perjury conviction can lead to a mistrial, an overturned verdict, or the reopening of a case that had been resolved. In family court, a judge who learns a party lied on a financial affidavit can redistribute assets, modify support, and award attorney’s fees to the other side. The hit to your credibility can also color every future ruling that judge makes about you.
Statute of Limitations
Federal perjury charges must be brought within five years of the offense, the standard limitations period for non-capital federal crimes.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3282 – Offenses Not Capital Once five years pass from the date of the false statement, federal prosecutors lose the ability to file charges. State windows vary, with some shorter and some longer.
The One Narrow Way Out: Recantation
Federal law provides a single escape hatch, and only under the court and grand jury statute, not the general perjury statute. If you made a false declaration before a court or grand jury and correct it during the same proceeding, that admission can block prosecution entirely. Two conditions have to be met: the false statement cannot yet have substantially affected the proceeding, and it cannot yet have become obvious that the lie has been or will be exposed.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1623 – False Declarations Before Grand Jury or Court
You cannot wait for a prosecutor to confront you with contradicting evidence and then “recant.” The defense is built for the witness who lies, immediately recognizes what they have done, and voluntarily corrects the record before any damage is done. Once the proceeding moves on or the lie has been discovered, the window closes.