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How DC Federal Bribery Charges Can Occur

Bribery involves offering a public official something of value with the expectation or in exchange for the public official taking some action or making some omission in their official duties. It does not have to be money. It often is money, but it does not have to be money. It could be for the promise of some future benefit, the promise of securing a job upon retirement from public duty, a promise of giving the public official’s nephew a job with the company, etc.

In other words, it does not have to be a direct hand-off of something of value. It can be more esoteric than that, more tangential than that, but nonetheless, something of value is being offered or solicited that involves public action. Those are the ways that bribery can be charged. The Department of Justice has a public corruption unit that investigates allegations of bribery extremely seriously. If you want to know more about how DC federal bribery charges can occur, consult a capable bribery lawyer that could answer your questions and pursue a positive outcome for you.

Bribery Charges and Penalties

How DC federal bribery charges can occur is if a person is alleged to have violated the bribery statutes involving a federal official or a DC official. The federal bribery statutes also encompass public officials in the District of Columbia because the District of Columbia is not a state and so it does not have state laws.

Federal bribery can result in prison for up to 15 years and a fine of three times the monetary equivalent of what was offered or accepted. Being charged with a federal offense alone can have serious consequences. A federal conviction for bribery comes with short-term effects like fines and/or prison sentences, house arrest, probation, parole, or supervised release.

Long-Term Effects of Conviction

The long-term effect of a federal charge is obviously even if someone is not convicted, the reputation can take a huge hit. Just being investigated for a federal bribery charge can have a negative effect because those kinds of cases can very often involve public scrutiny, public attention, and can be so newsworthy that a person’s reputation can take a huge hit even if, ultimately, the charges are dropped, the investigation is dropped, or the person is found not guilty after trial.

The long-term effects of a conviction for federal felony include the fact that the person is never going to be able to possess a gun again without a presidential pardon, they lose the right to vote or hold office, they are is going to have substantial issues gaining good employment going forward.

Effect on Employment

In general, people with a felony conviction on their record can have an extremely difficult time getting back into the workforce with any kind of decent job. It can affect a persons’ eligibility for certain housing or certain benefits. Having a federal felony conviction on a record is something that can follow an individual in a negative way, to some degree, forever. There are many long-term effects of having a conviction for federal bribery.

Impact a Federal Bribery Charge Could Have

It might not necessarily matter how DC federal bribery charges can occur, if a person charged with a federal crime like bribery and they are a public official, they may face calls for resignation.  It is possible that an official could lose their position. If someone is accused of trying to bribe a public official, they could lose their job even though they have not been convicted of anything yet, especially if they are employed by a private company.

If a person is in the private sector, they could be terminated from their position, could lose their career, and could expect to have to spend a decent amount of money to defend themselves against bribery charges. They might also be placed under supervision during their case.

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