Some crimes sit above the ordinary felony tier because the law treats them as the worst acts a person can commit. If you are asking what is worse than a felony, the answer is a small set of offenses—capital felonies, treason, espionage, and war crimes—that can carry the death penalty, mandatory life imprisonment, a permanent ban on holding federal office, and no deadline for prosecution. Every one of them is still technically a felony under federal law, but each carries consequences that go beyond what even other serious felons face.
Capital Felonies
A capital felony is any crime for which the law authorizes the death penalty. Under the Federal Death Penalty Act, a defendant can be sentenced to death for certain offenses involving intentional killing, participating in an act where lethal force was contemplated, or engaging in violence that created a grave risk of death when the victim died as a result.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3591 – Sentence of Death The statute also reaches large-scale drug trafficking tied to a continuing criminal enterprise, specifically cases involving quantities at least twice the threshold amounts or where a leader of the enterprise directs an attempt to kill a witness, juror, or public officer.
Beyond homicide and drug-enterprise cases, treason and espionage are directly named as death-eligible in the same statute.
As of 2025, 27 states authorize the death penalty and 23 have abolished it. The federal system also authorizes it, though a moratorium on federal executions was in place from 2021 through early 2025. Federal capital charges apply independently of state law, so a defendant can face execution under federal prosecution even in a state that has abolished the penalty.
Who Cannot Be Executed
Not every defendant convicted of a death-eligible crime can be put to death. The Supreme Court has drawn constitutional lines that remove entire categories of people from capital punishment.
Anyone who was under 18 at the time of the offense cannot be executed. In Roper v. Simmons (2005), the Court held that the Eighth Amendment bars the death penalty for juvenile offenders, citing their lack of maturity, their vulnerability to outside pressures, and their still-forming character.2Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center. Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005) The federal death penalty statute itself also prohibits executing anyone under 18 at the time of the offense.
People with intellectual disabilities are similarly exempt. In Atkins v. Virginia (2002), the Court ruled that executing a person with significantly below-average intellectual functioning and major limitations in adaptive skills that appeared before age 18 violates the Eighth Amendment.3Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center. Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002)
And the death penalty cannot be imposed for crimes against an individual person that did not and were not intended to result in the victim’s death. In Kennedy v. Louisiana (2008), the Court held that capital punishment must be “reserved for the worst of crimes,” which for offenses against individuals means those that take a life.4Cornell Law School. Kennedy v. Louisiana, 554 U.S. 407 (2008) Crimes against the state, like treason and espionage, remain death-eligible even without a resulting death.
Treason
Treason is the only crime defined directly in the Constitution. Article III, Section 3 limits it to two specific acts: waging war against the United States, or giving aid and comfort to its enemies.5Cornell Law School. Treason Clause – Doctrine and Practice The Founders kept the definition narrow on purpose, to prevent the government from using treason charges as a political weapon.
The federal treason statute gives sentencing judges two paths. One is death. The other is a prison term of at least five years and a fine of at least $10,000. In addition, anyone convicted of treason is permanently barred from holding any office under the United States.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2381 – Treason That lifetime disqualification sets treason apart from almost every other crime in federal law. Even after a sentence is served, the constitutional disability remains.
Securing a treason conviction is also harder than any other federal prosecution. The Constitution requires either the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or a confession made in open court. Out-of-court admissions can only corroborate testimony that already meets the two-witness threshold; they cannot stand alone.
Espionage
Gathering or delivering defense information to a foreign government can carry a death sentence under federal law when the espionage led to the identification of a U.S. agent who was subsequently killed, or when the information directly concerned nuclear weapons, military satellites, war plans, or other major defense systems. Even when the death penalty does not apply, espionage carries up to life imprisonment. During wartime, communicating information useful to the enemy is punishable by death regardless of the specific subject matter.
War Crimes
Under the federal War Crimes Act, a war crime is a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions. A person can be prosecuted in the United States for a war crime regardless of where it took place, as long as either the victim or the offender is a U.S. national or a member of the U.S. Armed Forces, or the offender is present in the United States.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2441 – War Crimes If a victim dies as a result, the offender faces the death penalty. Otherwise, the punishment is life imprisonment or any term of years.
The principle of universal jurisdiction allows war crimes and genocide to be prosecuted by courts around the world, not just where the acts happened or by the country of the perpetrator.
Where These Crimes Sit in the Federal Felony System
The federal system sorts felonies into five tiers based on the maximum authorized prison sentence.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3559 – Sentencing Classification of Offenses
- Class A felony: life imprisonment or the death penalty
- Class B felony: 25 years or more
- Class C felony: 10 to less than 25 years
- Class D felony: 5 to less than 10 years
- Class E felony: more than 1 year but less than 5 years
Every offense discussed above falls into Class A, the highest tier. Capital murder, treason, espionage, and war crimes resulting in death all carry either life imprisonment or the death penalty. The federal sentencing guidelines reserve their most severe sentencing level, Offense Level 43, which mandates life imprisonment, for just four categories: murder, treason, certain drug trafficking offenses, and certain firearms offenses involving career criminals. Most states use a similar lettered or numbered grading system, with their own “Class A” or “first-degree” designation reserved for the most serious offenses.
No Deadline to Prosecute
For most federal crimes, prosecutors have about five years to bring charges. The crimes at the top of the hierarchy are the exception. An indictment for any offense punishable by death can be filed at any time, with no limitation period.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3281 – Capital Offenses A person who commits treason, a death-eligible act of espionage, or a war crime that killed someone can be charged decades after the fact.
Federal terrorism offenses that resulted in death or created a foreseeable risk of death also have no statute of limitations, even when the specific offense is not technically punishable by death.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3286 – Extension of Statute of Limitation for Certain Terrorism Offenses For non-capital terrorism offenses that did not result in death, the limitations period is eight years.
Put together, these features explain why some crimes sit above the ordinary felony line. A standard felony carries more than a year in prison. The crimes above it carry the possibility of execution, the certainty of life behind bars, a permanent loss of the right to serve in federal office, and no clock a defendant can run out.