Title 18 United States Code – Crime and Criminal Procedures

Part I – Crimes

Chapter 95 - Racketeering

Section 1955 - Prohibition of Illegal Gambling Businesses 

• (a) Whoever conducts, finances, manages, supervises, directs, or owns all or 

part of an illegal gambling business shall be fined under this title or imprisoned 

not more than five years, or both. 

• (b) As used in this section -

• (1) ''illegal gambling business'' means a gambling business 

which -

• (i) is a violation of the law of a State or political 

subdivision in which it is conducted; 

• (ii) involves five or more persons who conduct, finance, 

manage, supervise, direct, or own all or part of such business; 

and 

(iii) has been or remains in substantially continuous 

operation for a period in excess of thirty days or has a gross 

revenue of $2,000 in any single day. 

• (2) ''gambling'' includes but is not limited to pool-selling, 

bookmaking, maintaining slot machines, roulette wheels or dice 

tables, and conducting lotteries, policy, bolita or numbers 

games, or selling chances therein. 

• (3) ''State'' means any State of the United States, the 

District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any 

territory or possession of the United States. 

• (c) If five or more persons conduct, finance, manage, supervise, direct, or own all 

or part of a gambling business and such business operates for two or more 

successive days, then, for the purpose of obtaining warrants for arrests, 

interceptions, and other searches and seizures, probable cause that the business 

receives gross revenue in excess of $2,000 in any single day shall be deemed to 

have been established. 

• (d) Any property, including money, used in violation of the provisions of this 

section may be seized and forfeited to the United States. All provisions of law 

relating to the seizures, summary, and judicial forfeiture procedures, and 

condemnation of vessels, vehicles, merchandise, and baggage for violation of 

the customs laws; the disposition of such vessels, vehicles, merchandise, and 

baggage or the proceeds from such sale; the remission or mitigation of such 

forfeitures; and the compromise of claims and the award of compensation to 

informers in respect of such forfeitures shall apply to seizures and forfeitures 

incurred or alleged to have been incurred under the provisions of this section, 

insofar as applicable and not inconsistent with such provisions. Such duties as 

are imposed upon the collector of customs or any other person in respect to the 

seizure and forfeiture of vessels, vehicles, merchandise, and baggage under the 

customs laws shall be performed with respect to seizures and forfeitures of 

property used or intended for use in violation of this section by such officers, 
agents, or other persons as may be designated for that purpose by the Attorney 

General. 

• (e) This section shall not apply to any bingo game, lottery, or similar game of 

chance conducted by an organization exempt from tax under paragraph (3) of 

subsection (c) of section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as 

amended, if no part of the gross receipts derived from such activity inures to the 

benefits of any private shareholder, member, or employee of such organization 

except as compensation for actual expenses incurred by him in the conduct of 

such activity.