What Is the Maximum Penalty for Destroying Federal Records?

The maximum penalty for destroying federal records is three years in prison and a $250,000 fine under 18 U.S.C. § 2071, the main statute covering concealment, removal, or mutilation of government records. That ceiling climbs to 20 years if the destruction was meant to obstruct a federal investigation, and higher still when national-defense information is involved. Custodians who destroy records in their own care face an additional consequence that does not apply to anyone else: they lose their current federal job and are barred from holding future federal office.

The Baseline Penalty Under 18 U.S.C. § 2071

Section 2071 has two subsections, and which one applies changes the stakes.

Subsection (a) reaches anyone. It makes it a crime to willfully and unlawfully conceal, remove, destroy, or damage any record filed or deposited with a federal court, public office, or public officer. Attempts count too, so a failed shred or a botched deletion is still prosecutable. The maximum is three years in prison, a fine, or both.¹

Subsection (b) applies to a narrower group: people who had custody of the records they destroyed. A federal archivist who shreds documents entrusted to the agency, or an official who deletes digital files under their control, faces the same three-year maximum, plus two additional penalties — forfeiture of their current office and disqualification from holding any federal office in the future.¹

What “Willful” Means

Both subsections require willful conduct. The person has to have acted deliberately, knowing the conduct was unlawful. Spilling coffee on a file, losing a laptop to a hardware crash, or accidentally overwriting a database does not fit the statute. Prosecutors have to prove the destruction was intentional.

What Counts as a Federal Record

The term is broader than paper files. Under the Federal Records Act, a federal record is any recorded information, in any format, that a federal agency created or received in the course of government business and preserved as evidence of its activities.² Emails, databases, photographs, maps, memos, and contractor-created documents all qualify. Marking something “personal” does not change its status: if it was used to conduct agency business, it is a federal record, and a document that mixes personal and official content is treated as a federal record in full.³

How High the Fine Can Actually Go

Section 2071 says “fined under this title,” which points to 18 U.S.C. § 3571. For an individual convicted of a felony, the baseline maximum is $250,000. For an organization, it is $500,000.⁴

An alternative fine provision can push the number much higher. If the defendant profited from the destruction, or someone else suffered a financial loss because of it, the court can impose a fine of up to twice the gross gain or twice the gross loss, whichever is greater. In cases involving valuable contracts or large-scale cover-ups, that alternative calculation can dwarf the $250,000 figure.

Losing Federal Office and the Elected-Office Question

The forfeiture-and-disqualification clause in § 2071(b) is one of the more unusual pieces of federal criminal law. A convicted custodian immediately loses their current position and is barred from holding “any office under the United States.” The statute carves out one exception: retired members of the Armed Forces do not lose their retired status.¹

Whether that bar extends to elected federal office is unsettled. The prevailing legal view, grounded in Powell v. McCormack (1969) and U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton (1995), is that Congress cannot add qualifications for elected federal office beyond those set in the Constitution — age, citizenship, and residency. Under that reasoning, § 2071(b) can disqualify someone from appointed federal positions but likely cannot keep them off a ballot or out of Congress. No court has ruled directly on the question.

When the Ceiling Jumps to 20 Years

If records were destroyed to interfere with a federal investigation, a far more serious statute kicks in. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1519, anyone who knowingly destroys, alters, or falsifies a record or tangible object with intent to obstruct a federal investigation or bankruptcy proceeding faces up to 20 years in prison.⁵ This is the statute that typically drives the serious prison time in high-profile document-destruction cases.

The gap between the two laws is wide. Destroying a routine agency file out of spite tops out at three years. Destroying that same file to hide something from investigators tops out at twenty. The difference is motive, and prosecutors will press hard on timing and circumstances to prove it.

National Security Records

Destruction of classified or defense-related material opens the door to the Espionage Act. Under 18 U.S.C. § 793, someone whose gross negligence allows defense information in their custody to be destroyed faces up to ten years in prison.⁶ Under § 794, if the conduct involves delivering defense information to a foreign government, the penalty can reach life imprisonment, and in cases involving the death of a U.S. intelligence agent or nuclear weapons information, the death penalty is available.⁷

Destruction of Government Property as a Separate Charge

Physical records are also government property, which gives prosecutors another count to work with. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1361, destruction of government property valued over $1,000 is a felony with a ten-year maximum. Below $1,000, it is a misdemeanor capped at one year.⁸ This charge is sometimes stacked alongside § 2071 when physical damage to records or storage systems is part of the conduct.

One Thing These Penalties Do Not Reach

These statutes punish unlawful destruction. Agencies routinely dispose of records legally once they have aged past a disposition schedule approved by the National Archives and Records Administration. If the destruction follows an approved NARA schedule and the retention period has run, no § 2071 liability attaches. The crime is in destroying records the agency was still required to keep, or destroying them for the wrong reason.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 2071 – Concealment, Removal, or Mutilation Generally
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 44 U.S. Code 3301 – Definition of Records
3
eCFR. 36 CFR Part 1222 Subpart A – Identifying Federal Records
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 3571 – Sentence of Fine
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1519 – Destruction, Alteration, or Falsification of Records in Federal Investigations and Bankruptcy
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 793 – Gathering, Transmitting or Losing Defense Information
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code Chapter 37 – Espionage and Censorship
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1361 – Government Property or Contracts