Extortion is considered the crime of getting someone to hand over money, property, or something else of value by making a wrongful threat — of violence, property damage, economic harm, reputational damage, or the abuse of official power. What separates it from robbery is the victim’s induced consent: an extortionist pressures the victim into giving the property up, rather than taking it by immediate force. The crime is complete the moment the threat is made with intent to obtain something of value, even if the victim never actually pays.
The Two Elements That Make a Threat Extortion
Every extortion case rests on two things: a wrongful threat and a demand for something of value the person has no legal right to receive. The word “wrongful” does real work. It means the person making the demand had no lawful claim to the money or property they were pressuring the victim to give up.
The threat does not have to involve physical violence. Federal law covers threats of bodily harm, threats to damage property, threats of economic harm, and threats to someone’s reputation. Threatening to accuse a person of a crime, or to expose a damaging secret, counts as much as threatening to break their legs. What matters is whether the threat would cause a reasonable person enough fear to give up their property.
“Property” is read broadly. Federal courts have defined it as “any valuable right considered as a source of wealth,” which reaches well past cash. It includes the right to run a business free from coercion, the right to solicit customers, and even the right of union members to participate in union elections.1United States Department of Justice Archives. Hobbs Act — Extortion By Force, Violence, Or Fear And the victim does not have to actually pay for the crime to be charged. Attempted extortion — making the threat with intent to obtain property — supports a conviction under the same federal statute as the completed offense.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1951 – Interference with Commerce by Threats or Violence
Common Situations That Count as Extortion
Blackmail and Sextortion
Blackmail is probably the most recognizable form. Someone threatens to reveal damaging information — embarrassing photos, private correspondence, evidence of an affair, financial secrets — unless they are paid. One point surprises people: it does not matter whether the information is true. The crime is in using a threat to extract payment, not in the accuracy of what is being threatened.
Sextortion is one of the fastest-growing variants. It typically involves threatening to distribute intimate images or videos unless the victim provides more images, sexual acts, or money. The federal government has identified sextortion as a priority for prosecution, particularly when minors are the targets.3The White House. Combating Cybercrime, Fraud, and Predatory Schemes Against American Citizens
Protection Rackets
A group tells a business owner they need to pay “protection money” to prevent bad things from happening to the shop. The threat is often implied rather than stated outright. Nobody says “we’ll smash your windows.” They say “it’d be a shame if something happened to this nice place.” That implication is legally sufficient. The victim understands exactly what is being communicated, and so do courts.
Ransomware and Digital Extortion
Ransomware is modern extortion in its purest form. An attacker locks a victim’s files with encryption and demands payment, usually in cryptocurrency, to restore access. Federal law addresses this under 18 U.S.C. § 1030, which makes it a crime to transmit a threat to damage a protected computer, or to demand money related to computer damage, with intent to extort. A first offense carries up to five years in prison; a second offense doubles that to ten.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1030 – Fraud and Related Activity in Connection with Computers Prosecutors often add Hobbs Act charges if the attack affected interstate commerce, which it almost always does when a business is the target.
Demanding Payment to Not Report a Crime
Demanding money in exchange for not reporting someone to law enforcement is extortion, even when the person really did commit the crime being threatened. Federal law has a standalone statute for this: 18 U.S.C. § 873 makes it a crime to demand or accept money “under a threat of informing, or as a consideration for not informing” about any federal law violation. It is a misdemeanor carrying up to one year in prison.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 873 – Blackmail
Abuse of Public Office
A separate category — called extortion “under color of official right” — applies when a public official exploits their position to obtain payments they are not entitled to receive.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1951 – Interference with Commerce by Threats or Violence A building inspector who demands cash to approve a permit, a licensing clerk who will not process an application without an envelope of money, a police officer who takes payment to look the other way — all of these qualify.
The distinctive feature is that the official rarely needs to make an explicit threat. The coercion comes from the office itself. The official controls something the victim needs, and the victim understands that not paying means not getting it. The Supreme Court held in Evans v. United States that prosecutors do not need to prove the official made an affirmative demand. It is enough to show the official received a payment knowing it was given in return for official acts, and the official does not actually have to follow through on what was promised.6LII / Legal Information Institute. Evans v. United States, 504 U.S. 255 (1992)
How Extortion Differs From Robbery, Bribery, and Coercion
These crimes overlap enough that the distinctions get blurred, but they carry different charges.
Robbery takes property by immediate force or the threat of immediate harm. Extortion takes property through the victim’s own coerced cooperation. A mugger who grabs your wallet commits robbery. Someone who threatens to destroy your business unless you pay them next week commits extortion.
Coercion forces someone to do something or stop doing something through threats, but it does not require obtaining property. Threatening someone into quitting a job is coercion. Threatening someone into handing over money is extortion.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1951 – Interference with Commerce by Threats or Violence
Bribery is where things get murkiest, especially with public officials. In a bribery scheme both parties are guilty: one offers a benefit corruptly, the other accepts it corruptly. In extortion by a public official, the official is the wrongdoer who misuses the coercive power of the office, and the payer is treated as a victim. The practical difference often comes down to who initiated the transaction and whether the payer felt they had a real choice.
Federal Extortion Laws and Penalties
The Hobbs Act (18 U.S.C. § 1951) is the main federal extortion statute. It criminalizes obstructing or affecting interstate commerce through extortion, attempted extortion, or conspiracy. A conviction carries up to 20 years in prison per count, plus fines, and attempt and conspiracy carry the same maximum.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1951 – Interference with Commerce by Threats or Violence Cases with multiple victims or repeated demands can stack those 20-year ceilings quickly.
The blackmail statute at 18 U.S.C. § 873 carries up to one year.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 873 – Blackmail The computer-extortion statute at 18 U.S.C. § 1030 carries up to five years for a first offense and up to ten for a repeat offender.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1030 – Fraud and Related Activity in Connection with Computers
If a firearm is used or carried during the offense, the consequences escalate sharply. Under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), using or carrying a firearm during a crime of violence triggers a mandatory minimum sentence that runs consecutively — added on top of the underlying sentence, not folded into it. The exact minimum depends on how the weapon was used, with longer terms for brandishing or discharging.7United States Sentencing Commission. Section 924(c) Firearms
Sentencing judges also weigh criminal history, the sophistication of the scheme, the number of victims, and the financial and psychological harm done. A conviction leaves a permanent felony record with lasting consequences for employment, housing, and professional licensing.
Every state criminalizes extortion separately. The terminology varies — some states call it extortion, some call it theft by extortion, and some treat blackmail as its own offense. State penalties typically scale with the value demanded and the type of threat, with threats of violence drawing harsher charges than threats of reputational harm.
Defenses to an Extortion Charge
Claim of Right
The most important defense is the claim-of-right argument: that the defendant genuinely believed they were entitled to what they demanded. The Supreme Court recognized this in the labor context, reasoning that a demand is not “wrongful” under the Hobbs Act if the person had a legitimate claim — for example, a union using economic pressure to secure higher wages for actual work.1United States Department of Justice Archives. Hobbs Act — Extortion By Force, Violence, Or Fear
The defense has limits. Several federal appeals courts have confined it to labor-management disputes and refused to extend it to cases involving violence or public corruption. The government can also defeat it by proving the defendant knew they had no legitimate claim. And certain demands — like payoffs to union officials that violate federal labor law, or sham fees unions are not entitled to collect — fall outside the defense entirely.
Legitimate Pre-Litigation Demands
Lawyers send demand letters every day that reference potential lawsuits and unflattering facts about the recipient. That is generally protected legal activity, not extortion. The line courts have drawn turns on whether the threatened disclosure would happen only within litigation and is necessary to prove the underlying claim. A lawyer writing “pay my client’s damages or we will present evidence of your negligence in court” is doing the job. A lawyer threatening to send embarrassing secrets to the media or immigration authorities unless the recipient pays has crossed into extortion.
Truth of the Information Is Not a Defense
This one trips people up regularly. If someone threatens to expose true information unless they are paid, they are still committing extortion. The crime is not in the falsity of the accusation. It is in using the threat as leverage to extract money or property. Whether the threatened disclosure is accurate or fabricated is legally irrelevant to the extortion charge itself.