<P> Capital punishment is a legal penalty under the United States federal government criminal justice system . </P> <P> It can be handed down for treason, espionage, murder, large - scale drug trafficking, or attempting to kill a witness, juror, or court officer in certain cases; but all inmates currently under federal death sentences were condemned for aggravated murder . Executions performed by the federal government are infrequent compared to those performed by state governments . </P> <P> The Federal Bureau of Prisons manages the housing and execution of federal death row prisoners . As of January 1, 2017, 62 offenders were on the federal death row, most of them at Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana . </P>

When is someone sentenced to the death penalty