Home Table of Contents

§ 3-701. Extortion generally

West's Annotated Code of MarylandCriminal LawEffective: October 1, 2016

West's Annotated Code of Maryland
Criminal Law (Refs & Annos)
Title 3. Other Crimes Against the Person
Subtitle 7. Extortion and Other Threats
Effective: October 1, 2016
MD Code, Criminal Law, § 3-701
Formerly cited as MD CODE Art. 27, § 562B
§ 3-701. Extortion generally
Scope of section
(a) This section does not apply to legitimate efforts by employees or their representatives to obtain certain wages, hours, or working conditions.
Obtaining, attempting or conspiring to obtain property prohibited
(b) A person may not obtain, attempt to obtain, or conspire to obtain money, property, labor, services, or anything of value from another person with the person's consent, if the consent is induced by wrongful use of actual or threatened:
(1) force or violence;
(2) economic injury;
(3) destruction, concealment, removal, confiscation, or possession of any immigration or government identification document with intent to harm the immigration status of another person; or
(4) notification of law enforcement officials about another person's undocumented or illegal immigration status.
Penalty--Value of property, labor, or services at least $1,000
(c)(1) If the value of the property, labor, or services is at least $1,000 but less than $10,000, a person who violates this section is guilty of the felony of extortion and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or a fine not exceeding $10,000 or both.
(2) If the value of the property, labor, or services is at least $10,000 but less than $100,000, a person who violates this section is guilty of the felony of extortion and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 15 years or a fine not exceeding $15,000 or both.
(3) If the value of the property, labor, or services is $100,000 or more, a person who violates this section is guilty of the felony of extortion and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 25 years or a fine not exceeding $25,000 or both.
Penalty--Value of property, labor, or services less than $1,000
(d) If the value of the property, labor, or services is less than $1,000, a person who violates this section is guilty of the misdemeanor of extortion and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 18 months or a fine not exceeding $1,000 or both.
Limitation
(e) A prosecution for a felony under this section shall be instituted within 5 years after the crime was committed.

Credits

Added by Acts 2002, c. 26, § 2, eff. Oct. 1, 2002. Amended by Acts 2007, c. 340, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2007; Acts 2007, c. 341, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2007; Acts 2013, c. 415, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2013; Acts 2016, c. 536, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2016; Acts 2016, c. 537, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2016.
Formerly Art. 27, § 562B.
MD Code, Criminal Law, § 3-701, MD CRIM LAW § 3-701
Current through legislation effective through April 9, 2023, from the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly. Some statute sections may be more current, see credits for details.
End of Document