Title 18, Crimes and Criminal ProcedureRelease 119-102
§1716A Nonmailable Locksmithing Devices and Motor Vehicle Master Keys
Title 18 › PART I — CRIMES › CHAPTER 83 — POSTAL SERVICE › § 1716A
Summary
Sending or arranging the mailing or delivery of things that federal law says cannot be mailed is a crime. The same goes for items banned from interstate delivery by carriers other than the U.S. Postal Service. A person who does this can be fined, jailed for up to one year, or both.
Full Legal Text
Title 18, §1716A
Crimes and Criminal Procedure, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Whoever knowingly deposits for mailing or delivery, or knowingly causes to be delivered by mail according to the direction thereon, or at any place to which it is directed to be delivered by the person to whom it is addressed, any matter declared to be nonmailable by section 3002 of title 39, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
(b)Whoever knowingly deposits for mailing or delivery, causes to be delivered by mail, or causes to be delivered by any interstate mailing or delivery other than by the United States Postal Service, any matter declared to be nonmailable by section 3002a of title 39, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1990—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 101–647 substituted “shall be fined under this title or” for “shall be under this title”. 1988—Pub. L. 100–690 inserted “locksmithing devices and” in section catchline, designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), substituted “under this title” for “fined not more than $1,000, or”, and added subsec. (b). 1970—Pub. L. 91–375 substituted “section 3002” for “section 4010” of title 39.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1970 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 91–375 effective within 1 year after Aug. 12, 1970, on date established therefor by Board of Governors of United States Postal Service and published by it in Federal Register, see section 15(a) of Pub. L. 91–375, set out as an
Effective Date
note preceding section 101 of Title 39, Postal Service.
Effective Date
Pub. L. 90–560, § 3, Oct. 12, 1968, 82 Stat. 997, provided that: “The
Amendments
made by the first section and section 2 of this Act [enacting this section and section 4010 of former Title 39, The Postal Service] shall become effective on the sixtieth day after the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 12, 1968].”
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
18 U.S.C. § 1716A
Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102