Someone commits a crime when they do an action forbidden by a state or federal statute or regulation.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
crime (noun)1.
an act or the commission of an act that is forbidden or the omission of a duty that is commanded by a public law and that makes the offender liable to punishment by that law , especially a gross violation of law
2.
a grave offense especially against morality
3.
activity - criminal efforts to fight crime
4.
something reprehensible, foolish, or disgraceful - it's a crime to waste good food offense
Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus
crime (noun)1.
activities that are in violation of the laws of the state
SYNONYMS:
criminality, lawbreaking, lawlessnessRELATED WORDS:
outlawry; gangsterism, hooliganism, racketeering; malfeasance, misconduct; wrongdoing; evil, immorality, sin, wickedness; corruption, depravity; malefaction, misdeed, misdoing, offense ( offence), transgression, trespass2.
a regrettable or blameworthy act
SYNONYMS:
disgrace, pity, shame, sinRELATED WORDS:
outrage, scandal3.
a breaking of a moral or legal code
SYNONYMS:
breach, crime, debt, error, lawbreaking, malefaction, misdeed, misdoing, sin, transgression, trespass, violation, wrongdoingRELATED WORDS:
bias crime, hate crime; felony, misconduct, misdemeanor, misfeasance; fault, foible, peccadillo; break, infringement; immorality, iniquitousness, iniquity, sinfulness, vice, wickedness; corruption, debauchery, depravity, licentiousness; abuse, criminality, illegality, lawlessness, unlawfulness; descent, downfall, fallNEAR ANTONYMS:
blamelessness, faultlessness, guiltlessness, impeccability, innocence, irreproachability; goodness, morality, righteousness, virtue, virtuousness