NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED FEDERAL LAWYERS
What is federal kidnapping charge
|Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group. We’re a second-generation law firm managed by Todd Spodek – with over 40 years of combined experience handling the kinds of cases that make national headlines. If you’ve heard of us, you probably know we represented Anna Delvey in the case that became a Netflix series, handled the Ghislaine Maxwell juror misconduct matter, or defended clients in the Alec Baldwin stalking case. We handle the cases other attorneys won’t touch.
Federal kidnapping charges destroy lives faster than almost any other federal crime. You’re looking at mandatory minimums, life sentences, potentially the death penalty. This article explains what federal kidnapping actually is under 18 U.S.C. § 1201, when the FBI takes over your case, and what defenses actually work when federal prosecutors are building a case against you.
The Lindbergh Law – Why Federal Kidnapping Penalties Are Brutal
Federal kidnapping law exists because of one case – the 1932 abduction and murder of Charles Lindbergh’s infant son. Congress passed the Federal Kidnapping Act that same year, and it’s been called the Lindbergh Law ever since.
Any federal kidnapping conviction carries up to life in federal prison. If the victim dies, the sentence is mandatory life or the death penalty. If the victim is a child and you’re not a family member, you’re facing a mandatory minimum of 20 years under 18 U.S.C. § 1201(g). There’s no safety valve that eliminates these mandatory minimums.
Federal judges have almost no discretion here. When death results from kidnapping, the Department of Justice policy is to seek the maximum penalty allowed by law. It’s not like a drug case where cooperation might cut your sentence in half.
What Actually Triggers Federal Jurisdiction
Most kidnappings are prosecuted in state court. Federal jurisdiction only kicks in when specific elements are present.
The government must prove the victim was “willfully transported in interstate or foreign commerce.” Drive someone from Virginia to Maryland against their will – that’s federal. Keep them in the same county in Virginia – that’s state. The difference determines whether you’re facing 10 years in state prison or life in federal prison.
But there’s a second way federal jurisdiction attaches. If you use any “means, facility, or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce” in committing the kidnapping, it becomes federal. Send a ransom demand through the U.S. Mail – federal jurisdiction. Make a phone call across state lines – federal jurisdiction. Use the internet to communicate with the victim’s family – federal jurisdiction. Federal prosecutors always find a way to make it stick if they want the case.
Then there’s the 24-hour presumption. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1201(a), if you hold someone for more than 24 hours after unlawfully seizing them, the law presumes you transported them across state lines. It’s a rebuttable presumption – but the burden shifts to you to prove you didn’t cross state lines. After 24 hours, that presumption makes federal prosecution almost automatic.
What Counts as Kidnapping Under Federal Law
The statute uses broad language: anyone who “unlawfully seizes, confines, inveigles, decoys, kidnaps, abducts, or carries away and holds for ransom or reward or otherwise any person” commits federal kidnapping.
You don’t need ransom. You don’t need to hold someone for days. “Inveigles” means luring someone through deception. “Decoys” means tricking them into going somewhere. Federal prosecutors have used this statute against defendants who never physically grabbed anyone – they just convinced the victim to get in a car under false pretenses, then drove across state lines. Once you cross that state line with someone who didn’t actually consent, you’ve potentially committed federal kidnapping.
The “or otherwise” language means motive doesn’t matter. Kidnapping for ransom, kidnapping during a robbery, kidnapping as part of a domestic dispute, kidnapping connected to drug trafficking – all of it falls under 18 U.S.C. § 1201 if the interstate element is present. Federal prosecutors in 2024 and 2025 have charged kidnapping in MS-13 gang cases, human trafficking cases, domestic violence situations where the defendant took the victim across state lines.
Attempted kidnapping carries up to 20 years. Conspiracy to kidnap, even if the kidnapping never happens, can result in life imprisonment for all conspirators. You don’t have to be the person who actually seizes the victim – if you help plan it, drive the car, or hold the victim while someone else makes ransom demands, you’re facing the same life sentence.
Defense Strategies That Actually Work
Challenging federal jurisdiction is the first move. If the government can’t prove interstate commerce, the case belongs in state court where penalties are typically lower. That means scrutinizing every detail – the alleged transportation, phone calls, communications. If the victim never crossed state lines and you can prove it, you can potentially get the case transferred to state court or dismissed from federal court entirely.
Rebutting the 24-hour presumption requires evidence – GPS data, witness testimony, surveillance footage showing the victim was released before 24 hours passed or never left the state. It’s not enough to just argue the government didn’t prove it, you need affirmative evidence contradicting the presumption. Defense attorneys who wait until trial to challenge jurisdiction usually lose – this needs to be fought at the preliminary hearing.
Consent is a defense if the victim is an adult and actually agreed to travel with you. But consent has to be genuine – not coerced, not obtained through deception. Federal prosecutors will argue that any deception vitiates consent. This defense works in domestic situations where couples cross state lines together and later one person claims it was kidnapping – but it requires substantial proof the travel was voluntary.
Federal kidnapping cases move quickly – the FBI is involved from day one, executing search warrants, seizing phones, interviewing witnesses. If you wait until you’re indicted to hire a lawyer, critical evidence may be lost.
Real Consequences From Recent Cases
In 2024, federal prosecutors in New Mexico filed kidnapping charges against Labar Tsethlikai in connection with violent crimes against Native American men. The superseding indictment included two counts of kidnapping resulting in death, four additional kidnapping counts, murder charges, and assault charges. Because victims died, he’s facing mandatory life or the death penalty.
In another 2024 case, eighteen MS-13 gang members were sentenced for crimes including kidnapping, murder, drug trafficking, and firearms offenses. The kidnapping charges were part of a broader RICO prosecution – but each kidnapping count added years to sentences, and mandatory minimums meant even defendants who cooperated couldn’t get below certain thresholds.
Federal kidnapping charges rarely come alone. They’re typically part of larger criminal conspiracies involving drugs, gangs, human trafficking, organized crime. When the FBI investigates kidnapping, they’re building a case that includes every possible federal charge they can prove.
If you’re under investigation or someone you know has been charged with federal kidnapping, time is everything. Federal prosecutors are building their case right now – analyzing phone records, interviewing witnesses, preparing evidence. The earlier you have an experienced federal criminal defense attorney investigating your case, challenging the government’s evidence, and negotiating with prosecutors, the more options you have. At Spodek Law Group, we’ve handled federal cases that other firms said were unwinnable – we understand how federal prosecutors think because we’ve gone up against them in cases that drew national media attention. Federal kidnapping charges are as serious as it gets, you need lawyers who know what actually works when life sentences are on the table.