Organized Retail Theft Laws by State (2026)
How each state handles organized retail theft and the penalties, from each state's code.
| State | Organized retail theft |
|---|---|
| Alabama | Yes. Organized retail theft (working with one or more others to organize, take part in or fund store theft, defeat anti-theft devices, use a rental or stolen car to hide identity, or buy or resell merchandise known to be stolen from a store) is a Class B felony (2 to 20 years). It also covers store theft adding up to more than $2,500 over a year or longer, $1,000 or more in 180 days, or $500 or more in 30 days. Ordinary retail theft is separately graded: first degree (over $2,500, $1,000 or more in 180 days, or any firearm) is a Class B felony; second degree (over $500 to $2,500) is a Class C felony; third degree ($500 or less) is a Class A misdemeanor, and a fourth or later conviction under the retail theft article is a Class C felony. Ala. Code 1975 §§ 13A-8-222, 13A-8-223, 13A-8-224, 13A-8-225, 13A-8-226; § 13A-5-6 |
| Alaska | Alaska has no state law that creates a separate organized retail theft crime. Thefts from stores are charged as ordinary theft, graded by value. When determining the degree of theft, amounts taken in one course of conduct are added together, and the combined value of property taken from one or more people or stores within 180 days may be added together when it is $750 or more but less than $25,000, which makes it a class C felony (up to 5 years). AS 11.46 (offenses against property); AS 11.46.980(c), (e); AS 11.46.130; AS 12.55.035, 12.55.125, 12.55.135 |
| Arizona | Yes. Organized retail theft is taking merchandise from a store without paying with intent to resell or trade it, or using an artifice, container, device or other article to help remove unpaid merchandise, whether acting alone or with others. It is a class 4 felony (first-offense range 1 to 3.75 years). The section sets no dollar threshold and no aggregation rule. A.R.S. § 13-1819; § 13-702(D) |
| Arkansas | Yes, since Act 321 of 2025. Organized retail theft is acting with one or more other people to knowingly steal consumer goods, or to organize, finance or direct such thefts, defeat anti-shoplifting devices, stay in a store after hours, use phones or other devices, or use a rental or stolen vehicle to help commit them, when the value, or the total value stolen within 120 days, is more than $1,000. It is a Class D felony (up to 6 years) over $1,000 and under $5,000, a Class C felony (3 to 10 years) over $5,000 and under $25,000, and a Class B felony (5 to 20 years) at $25,000 or more. Thefts in more than one judicial district may be added together and charged in any of them. Ark. Code § 5-36-127 (Act 321 of 2025, approved March 18, 2025); §§ 5-4-201, 5-4-401 |
| California | California has a specific organized retail theft crime. It covers acting with others to steal merchandise from stores or online marketplaces to resell or return it, acting with two or more others to receive or possess such stolen merchandise, stealing as an agent of a group as part of an organized plan, and recruiting, organizing, directing or financing others to do so. If the theft or receiving happens on two or more occasions within 12 months and the merchandise totals more than $950, it is punishable by up to 1 year in county jail or a felony term under Pen. Code 1170(h), so it can be charged as a misdemeanor or felony; other theft or receiving violations are misdemeanors up to 1 year in county jail, while organizing or financing can be charged as a misdemeanor or felony regardless of value. Since December 18, 2024 (Proposition 36), the values of multiple thefts may be added together in one count to set the degree of theft. Cal. Pen. Code 490.4, 490.3; Pen. Code 17, 18, 19, 1170(h) |
| Connecticut | Connecticut has no state law that creates a separate 'organized retail theft' offense (reviewed). Thefts from stores are charged as larceny (shoplifting is a form of larceny), and amounts taken under one scheme or course of conduct, from one or several victims, may be added together to set the degree, from a class C misdemeanor ($500 or less) up to a class B felony (over $20,000). Possessing a device designed to defeat store anti-theft systems is a separate class A misdemeanor. Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 53a-119, 53a-119a, 53a-121(b), 53a-122 to 53a-125b, 53a-127f (reviewed) |
| Delaware | Yes. Theft: organized retail crime is taking retail merchandise, or receiving stolen merchandise, in quantities not normally bought for personal use, intending to resell it or put it back into commerce. It is punished on the general theft scale (class A misdemeanor; class G felony over $1,500; class F over $1,500 with an elderly or disabled victim; class D over $50,000; class B at $100,000 or more), and it is a class E felony (up to 5 years) with two or more earlier convictions for this offense. Thefts by one person or a group may be combined into one count, using the total value. Shoplifting from three or more stores in a continuing course of conduct totaling $1,500 or more is a class G felony. 11 Del. C. §§ 840, 841(c), 841B; 11 Del. C. §§ 4205, 4206 |
| District of Columbia | Yes. Organized retail theft means acting with others to steal more than $1,000 in merchandise, added up over a 90-day period, intending to resell or trade it or return it to a store for money. Directing organized retail theft (organizing, recruiting, instructing or forcing others to take part) is a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $37,500. Separately, two or more thefts within 6 months totaling $1,000 or more may be charged as a single count of first-degree theft (up to 10 years). D.C. Code §§ 22-3211.01, 22-3212(a), 22-3571.01 |
| Florida | Yes. Retail theft becomes a third-degree felony (up to 5 years) when the person coordinates others, conspires to resell stolen goods, steals from more than one location, or works with others to distract store staff, and the merchandise taken within a 120-day period totals $750 or more. It is a second-degree felony (up to 15 years) when the total exceeds $3,000, when there are three or more thefts of 20 or more items at two or more stores within 120 days, or with a prior conviction for this offense, and a first-degree felony (up to 30 years) with two or more prior convictions or if the person has a firearm. Thefts in more than one judicial circuit within 120 days may be added together and are prosecuted by the Office of Statewide Prosecution. Fla. Stat. § 812.015(8)-(11); §§ 775.082, 775.083 |
| Idaho | Idaho has no state law that creates a separate 'organized retail theft' crime. Retail thefts are charged under the general theft law, which lets prosecutors combine them: a series of thefts of $1,000 or less each that are part of a common scheme or plan may be added together in one count, and property worth over $50 in total stolen in three or more thefts within a 'criminal episode' (up to 3 days) is grand theft. Grand theft is a felony punishable by 1 to 14 years in prison, a fine up to $5,000, or both. Idaho Code Title 18, Chapter 24 (reviewed); §§ 18-2407(1)(b)8.-9., 18-2408(2)(a) |
| Illinois | Illinois has a crime of organized retail crime. Committing retail theft together with others and, during the theft or flight, committing an assault or certain batteries on the store premises or damaging store property is a Class 3 felony (2 to 5 years), or a Class 2 felony (3 to 7 years) for a battery causing bodily harm. Recruiting, organizing, financing or directing others to steal merchandise worth more than $300 in total for resale (or to steal it in transit, fence it, or traffic in fraudulent-return goods) is a Class 2 felony. Ordinary retail theft can also be aggregated: thefts by one person over $300 ($150 for motor fuel) in a single transaction, or in separate transactions as a continuing course of conduct from one or more stores over one year, are a Class 3 felony; smaller retail thefts are a Class A misdemeanor (a Class 4 felony with a prior theft-type conviction). 720 ILCS 5/16-25.1, 5/16-25(f); 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-25 to -65 |
| Indiana | Yes. Exercising unauthorized control over a retail merchant's property intending to distribute it, directly or indirectly, for resale is organized retail theft, a Level 6 felony (6 months to 2 1/2 years). It is a Level 5 felony (1 to 6 years) if the value is $50,000 or more, the property is a firearm, or the person has a prior conviction for organized retail theft, theft or criminal conversion. Thefts in a single episode of criminal conduct may be charged in one count to reach the value thresholds. Separately, agreeing with at least two other people to commit theft and taking an overt step is organized theft, a Level 6 felony. IC 35-43-4-2.2, 35-43-4-2.1; IC 35-50-2-4 to -7, 35-50-3-2 to -4 |
| Iowa | Iowa has a separate organized retail theft crime. It applies to a person associated with a 'retail theft enterprise' (two or more people with a shared goal of stealing retail merchandise) who has a pattern of retail theft (at least two prior occasions in the past six months), commits or directs a new retail theft, and sells, advertises or returns the stolen goods for value. It is a class C felony over $5,000 (up to 10 years), a class D felony over $1,000 up to $5,000 (up to 5 years), an aggravated misdemeanor over $500 up to $1,000, and a serious misdemeanor at $500 or less, with higher grades for repeat offenders. The value of merchandise received within any six-month period may be added together. Iowa Code § 714.2B; §§ 902.9, 903.1 |
| Kansas | Kansas created the crime of organized retail crime in 2024. It covers acting with one or more other people to steal, or to receive, buy, sell or possess knowingly stolen, merchandise with a total retail value of $5,000 or more within a 12-month period as part of an organized plan, and recruiting, organizing, directing or financing others to do so. It is a severity level 6 nonperson felony at $5,000 to under $25,000, severity level 5 at $25,000 to under $100,000, and severity level 4 at $100,000 or more. Separately, the general theft law makes theft of less than $1,500 from three separate stores within 72 hours, as part of one scheme, a severity level 9 nonperson felony. Felony prison ranges come from the sentencing grid, which combines the severity level with criminal history. K.S.A. 21-5841, 21-5801(b)(5), 21-6804 |
| Kentucky | Kentucky has no state law that creates a separate organized retail theft crime. Retail thefts are charged under the general theft-by-unlawful-taking statute, which allows two or more thefts committed within one year to be combined into a single offense, with their values added together to set the grade, and allows thefts in different Kentucky counties to be combined and tried in any county where venue is proper for one of them. Under the general grading, a combined value of $1,000 to under $10,000 is a Class D felony (1 to 5 years) and $10,000 to under $1 million a Class C felony (5 to 10 years). KRS Chapter 514 (reviewed); KRS 514.030(2), (4) |
| Louisiana | Louisiana has a specific organized retail theft crime: intentionally procuring, receiving or concealing stolen retail merchandise (including gift cards or store credit) with intent to sell, deliver or distribute it. The grade is based on the total value in any 180-day period: under $1,000, up to six months, a fine up to $1,000, or both (up to 2 years and/or $2,000 with two or more prior theft convictions); $1,000 to under $5,000, up to 5 years with or without hard labor and/or $3,000; $5,000 to under $25,000, up to 10 years and/or $10,000; $25,000 or more, up to 20 years at hard labor and/or $50,000. A store owner is presumed to have violated the law if it obtained stolen merchandise more than once in 180 days from an unlicensed seller, a seller who paid no sales tax, or for cash without an invoice. La. R.S. 14:67.25 |
| Maine | Organized retail theft is committing 2 or more thefts of retail merchandise (including gift cards and electronics), as a principal or accomplice, as part of a scheme by 2 or more people involving thefts from 2 or more retail stores, for the purpose of selling the stolen merchandise or making fraudulent returns. It is a Class C crime, punishable by up to 5 years and a fine up to $5,000. The individual thefts are otherwise graded by value under the general theft statutes. 17-A M.R.S. § 363; 17-A M.R.S. §§ 1604(1), 1704 |
| Maryland | Organized retail theft is committing a series of thefts of retail merchandise from one or more merchants over a 90-day period, alone or with others, to keep the goods, return them for gain, or resell or trade them, when the total value exceeds $1,500; value includes property damaged in the crime and costs to repair or restock. It is a felony graded by total value: $1,500 to under $25,000, up to 5 years and/or $10,000; $25,000 to under $100,000, up to 10 years and/or $15,000; $100,000 or more, up to 20 years and/or $25,000, with restitution required. On the prosecutor's request, a court must also make a finding whether a theft, burglary or robbery conviction was organized retail theft for criminal-records reporting. Md. Code, Crim. Law § 7-104.1 |
| Massachusetts | Organized retail crime is acting with 2 or more others, within 180 days, to steal, embezzle or obtain by fraud retail merchandise worth more than $2,500 in order to resell it or put it back into commerce; thefts from one or more stores can be added together. It is punished by up to 10 years in state prison. If the merchandise is worth more than $10,000 it is aggravated organized retail crime, with up to 15 years. A leader (organizer, supervisor, financier or manager) of an organized retail theft enterprise faces up to 20 years in state prison and/or a fine up to $250,000 or five times the retail value of merchandise seized, whichever is greater. Mass. G.L. c. 266, § 30D |
| Michigan | Michigan's Organized Retail Crime Act makes it a felony to knowingly commit, organize, finance or conspire in organized retail crime, to possess merchandise known or believed to have been stolen from a retail merchant, or to disable anti-shoplifting devices or fire exit alarms to commit the crime. It is punishable by up to 5 years, a fine up to $5,000, or both. Restitution to the merchant and reimbursement of government costs are mandatory, unclaimed stolen merchandise is forfeited, and it is no defense that police-supplied property was not actually stolen. MCL 752.1084 |
| Minnesota | Organized retail theft applies to a person associated with a retail theft enterprise (2 or more people working together to take merchandise from retailers) who has engaged in a pattern of retail theft (at least two prior occasions in the preceding six months) and then steals or receives retail merchandise that is resold, advertised for sale, or returned to a store for value. It is punished by up to 15 years and/or $35,000 if the value exceeds $5,000; up to 7 years and/or $14,000 for over $1,000 to $5,000 (or over $500 to $1,000 with two or more prior qualifying convictions in ten years); up to 2 years and/or $5,000 for over $500 to $1,000 (or $500 or less with a prior qualifying conviction); and up to 364 days for lesser amounts. Minn. Stat. § 609.522 |
| Mississippi | In the shoplifting statute, prosecutors may add together ('aggregate') the price of merchandise shoplifted from the same or different stores in the same jurisdiction over 30 days or fewer to decide whether the total exceeds $1,000. Shoplifting over $1,000 is a felony punished as grand larceny (§ 97-17-41). A person who acts in concert with, aids or encourages others to shoplift is guilty of a felony punished as grand larceny when the total exceeds $1,000. The shoplifting statute itself contains no separate 'organized retail theft' offense. Miss. Code Ann. §§ 97-23-93(9), (10), 97-17-41 |
| Missouri | Missouri treats organized retail theft as a form of stealing. It covers stealing from businesses as part of an agreement between one or more people, knowingly receiving or possessing such stolen goods, and organizing, financing or managing a scheme to sell them; separate acts that are part of an ongoing agreement may be added together regardless of where or when they happened. When the property taken plus any damage is $750 or more but less than $10,000, it is a class C felony (3 to 10 years); at $10,000 or more it is a class B felony (5 to 15 years). The attorney general may prosecute these cases at a local prosecutor's written request. RSMo §§ 570.030.3(6), .4(3), .12, .13, 558.011 |
| Montana | Retail theft rings are charged under Montana's general theft statute. Amounts stolen as part of a common scheme or the same transaction, whether from one victim or several, may be added together to set the value, and theft of property worth more than $1,500 is punishable by up to 10 years in state prison and/or a $50,000 fine. No section titled organized retail theft appears in Montana's theft part (Title 45, chapter 6, part 3). MCA 45-6-301(7)(b), (8) |
| Nebraska | Nebraska created the crime of organized retail crime in 2025: stealing retail merchandise to resell it or trade it for something of value, organizing, financing or helping such theft, defeating anti-theft devices or fire exit alarms to commit it, conspiring to commit it, or buying or possessing merchandise for resale when a reasonable person would know it was stolen. It is graded by the combined retail value of all merchandise in the scheme: more than $500 but less than $1,500 is a Class I misdemeanor (a Class IV felony for a repeat within 10 years); $1,500 to under $5,000 is a Class IV felony; and $5,000 or more is a Class IIA felony (up to 20 years). Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 28-525, 28-526, 28-527, 28-105, 28-106 |
| Nevada | Organized retail theft is a series of thefts of retail merchandise from one or more merchants in Nevada (in stores or online) intending to return the goods for value or to resell, trade or barter them. Knowingly taking part in or furthering it is a category B felony: 1 to 10 years and a fine up to $10,000 when the combined value is at least $3,500 but less than $10,000, and 2 to 15 years and a fine up to $20,000 at $10,000 or more. The values of all thefts by all participants within a 120-day period are added together; restitution is mandatory, the case can be brought where any participant's theft occurred, and the Attorney General may prosecute. NRS 205.08345 |
| New Hampshire | Conspiring with one or more people to engage for profit in a scheme of shoplifting or fraudulent retail transactions (fake receipts or barcode labels) is called organized retail crime enterprise: a class B felony (up to 7 years) for a first offense and a class A felony (up to 15 years) for a second or later offense, and the conviction does not merge with the underlying theft. Separately, stealing from 3 different stores within 72 hours, or stealing goods to resell (shown by quantities not normally bought for personal use), is a class B felony theft. RSA 637:10-c, 637:11, II(d)-(f), 651:2 |
| New Jersey | Yes. Shoplifting committed in furtherance of an organized retail theft enterprise (two or more people working together to move or sell shoplifted goods) is a crime of the second degree if the merchandise is worth $1,000 or more and third degree if less; values from one scheme or enterprise may be added together regardless of the time period. Being a leader of an organized retail theft enterprise (organizing, supervising, financing or managing the scheme) is a separate second-degree crime (5-10 years) with a fine up to $250,000 or five times the retail value of the merchandise seized, whichever is greater. A person with two or more prior retail theft convictions may receive an extended term on the prosecutor's request. N.J.S. 2C:20-11(a)(11), (c); 2C:20-11.2; 2C:20-11.3 |
| New Mexico | Yes. Organized retail crime is acting with one or more others to steal, or to receive, buy or possess knowing it was stolen, merchandise with a combined retail value of $2,500 or more from one or more retailers within one year with intent to sell, exchange or return it for value; stealing such merchandise as an agent of others as part of an organized plan; or recruiting, organizing, directing, managing or financing others to commit these acts or other merchandise theft. It is a second degree felony (basic sentence 9 years). Values are combined over the year, and the case may be brought in any county where merchandise was stolen. NMSA 1978, 30-16-20.1; NMSA 1978, 31-18-15, 31-19-1 |
| New York | New York does not have a separately named organized retail theft offense in the sections read, but since 2024 grand larceny in the fourth degree (a class E felony, up to 4 years) covers stealing retail goods or merchandise worth more than $1,000 under a common scheme or plan or a single ongoing intent, and the value may be added together across thefts even from different stores or owners. Offering stolen retail goods for sale for financial gain, online or at a physical location, is 'fostering the sale of stolen goods,' a class A misdemeanor. N.Y. Penal Law 155.30(12); 165.66 |
| North Carolina | Yes. Organized retail theft covers conspiring with another person to steal retail property for resale or gain, receiving or possessing such property, leading or financing a scheme to sell stolen merchandise, and certain gift-card fraud schemes. Values are added together over a 90-day period, and thefts in more than one county may be charged as one offense: over $1,500 is a Class H felony, over $20,000 a Class G felony, over $50,000 a Class F felony, and over $100,000 a Class C felony. Property acquired through the offense is subject to forfeiture. N.C. Gen. Stat. 14-86.6 |
| North Dakota | North Dakota has no separately named organized retail theft offense in its theft chapter. However, theft committed while with an organized group of five or more individuals (or during a riot) is a class C felony (up to 5 years) regardless of value; thefts committed in one scheme or course of conduct, from one or several victims, may be charged as one offense with values added together; a fourth shoplifting offense within four years is a class C felony; and organizing or managing the theft and trafficking of stolen property is a class B felony (up to 10 years). N.D.C.C. 12.1-23-05(3)(l), (5)(c), (7); 12.1-23-08.3(1)(b); 12.1-32-01 |
| Ohio | Yes. Organized theft of retail property (since April 9, 2025) covers stealing retail property worth $7,500 or more from stores, manufacturers, distributors or cargo units to pass to a 'retail property fence' or to sell, exchange or return for value; receiving or holding such property as part of an enterprise; stealing it as an agent of an enterprise under an organized plan; and recruiting, directing or financing such an enterprise. Values from all retail establishments within any 12-month period are added together. It is a third-degree felony under $750,000, a second-degree felony from $750,000 to under $1.5 million, and a first-degree felony at $1.5 million or more; for a third-degree offense, a prior organized retail theft or recent felony theft conviction creates a presumption of prison, and two or more priors require a mandatory prison term. R.C. 2913.08 |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma made organized retail crime a separate offense effective Nov. 1, 2025. A theft, retail theft or larceny counts as organized retail crime when at least two listed circumstances are present, such as the goods being taken for resale, two or more people acting together, carrying theft tools (tag cutters, foil-lined bags, weapons), leaving through fire or employee exits, defeating anti-theft devices, knowingly buying or holding stolen merchandise for resale, using a getaway driver or a stolen or rented vehicle, or using a fake, altered or missing license plate. If the property is worth less than $15,000 the penalty is up to 5 years in prison or up to 1 year in county jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000; at $15,000 or more it is up to 8 years and/or up to $1,000, plus restitution in either case. 21 O.S. § 1731.2 |
| Oregon | Organized retail theft is committing (or aiding) theft of merchandise from a store while acting in concert with another person, when the total value of merchandise taken within any 180-day period exceeds $5,000. It is a Class B felony (up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000). ORS 164.098; ORS 161.605, 161.625 |
| Pennsylvania | Organized retail theft is organizing, coordinating, controlling, supervising, financing or managing an 'organized retail theft enterprise,' a group (formal or not) operating to commit retail theft or receive stolen merchandise with intent to resell it or put it back into commerce. It is graded by the retail value of stolen merchandise held by the enterprise: $2,500 to $9,999 is a third-degree felony (up to 7 years); $10,000 to $49,999 a second-degree felony (up to 10 years); and $50,000 or more a first-degree felony (up to 20 years). A 2023 law also created an Attorney General office for organized retail crime. 18 Pa.C.S. § 3929.3; 18 Pa.C.S. § 1103 |
| South Carolina | Organized retail crime is two or more people conspiring to steal retail property from a store intending to resell it or put it back into commerce for gain. A first offense is graded by the retail value: $2,000 to $10,000 is a misdemeanor (up to $5,000 fine and/or 3 years); over $10,000 to under $20,000 a felony (up to $10,000 and/or 5 years); over $20,000 to under $50,000 a felony (up to $20,000 and/or 10 years); over $50,000 a felony (up to $50,000 and/or 20 years). A second or later offense is a felony regardless of value (up to $50,000 and/or 20 years), offenses within 90 days may be aggregated, and an aggravated form involving willful damage over $2,000 or bodily injury carries up to 15 years. Property gained from the crime can be forfeited. S.C. Code § 16-13-135 |
| Tennessee | Tennessee's Organized Retail Crime Prevention Act makes it a crime to act with one or more other people to steal merchandise worth more than $1,000, aggregated over a 90-day period, to resell it or fraudulently return it. The same law also covers knowingly buying or possessing goods for resale believing they are stolen, returning stolen merchandise, disabling anti-theft devices, using online marketplaces to sell stolen goods, card skimming at payment terminals, and possessing 10 or more fraudulently obtained gift cards or other access devices. It is punished as theft by value, and one class higher if the person organized, supervised or financed others, or if the offense involved property destruction or a weapon. Property gained through the crime is subject to forfeiture. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-14-113; § 39-14-105 |
| Texas | Organized retail theft covers stealing merchandise or money from a merchant while acting with one or more others, stealing from merchants on two or more occasions within 180 days, knowingly benefiting from such thefts by others, or acting in a group to overwhelm a store's security or police. It is graded by the total value: under $100 a Class B misdemeanor; $100 to under $750 Class A; $750 to under $2,500 a state jail felony; $2,500 to under $30,000 third degree; $30,000 to under $150,000 second degree; and $150,000 or more first degree. Removing price tags or theft detectors or repackaging merchandise creates a presumption of intent to steal. Tex. Penal Code § 31.16; §§ 12.21-12.35 |
| Utah | Utah has no state law that creates a separate organized retail theft offense. Shoplifting is charged as retail theft, graded like other theft: class B misdemeanor under $500, class A misdemeanor at $500 to under $1,500 (or for a repeat thief on a store's no-trespass notice), third degree felony at $1,500 to under $5,000 or with certain prior theft convictions, and second degree felony at $5,000 or more or for a firearm or operable motor vehicle. Utah Code Title 76 (reviewed); § 76-6-602 |
| Vermont | Vermont has no state law that creates a separate organized retail theft offense. Retail theft (shoplifting, switching price tags or containers, using fake receipts or UPC labels, or possessing booster bags or tag-removal tools) is punished by value: up to 30 days and $500 for $250 or less; for $250.01 to $900, up to six months on a first offense, rising to two, three and then 10 years for repeat offenses within two years of each other; and up to 10 years and $1,000 over $900. Possessing 15 or more fake receipts or UPC labels, or booster bags or detector-removal tools, carries up to 10 years and $5,000. 13 V.S.A. chapter 57 (reviewed); 13 V.S.A. §§ 2575, 2577 |
| Virginia | Organized retail theft is conspiring or acting with another person to steal retail property from one or more stores, worth more than $5,000 aggregated over a 90-day period, intending to sell it, and placing it with a 'fence' or another person, while either receiving or possessing stolen retail goods or acting with two or more others as an organizer, supervisor, financier, leader or manager of the scheme. It is a Class 3 felony (5 to 20 years and up to $100,000). Thefts from stores in different counties or cities can be combined into one charge. Va. Code § 18.2-103.1; § 18.2-10 |
| Washington | Organized retail theft covers stealing or possessing at least $750 of stolen property from a store with an accomplice, stealing at least $750 total from one or more stores within 180 days, or stealing at least $750 with six or more accomplices after using electronic messages to recruit participants. It is a class B felony (up to 10 years) at $5,000 or more and a class C felony (up to 5 years) at $750 to under $5,000, and thefts over 180 days can be added together into one count. A separate offense, retail theft with special circumstances (using an emergency exit, carrying booster bags or tag removers, or stealing from three or more stores within 180 days), is a class B or class C felony depending on the amount. RCW 9A.56.350, 9A.56.360; RCW 9A.20.021 |
| West Virginia | Yes. Organized retail theft is joining a common scheme with two or more other people to shoplift merchandise intending to sell, trade or distribute it. With a combined value of $2,000 or more it is a felony of 1 to 10 years, a $1,000 to $10,000 fine, or both; at $10,000 or more it is 2 to 20 years, a $2,000 to $25,000 fine, or both. Knowingly buying or trading for merchandise taken by three or more people in such a scheme carries the same penalties by value. Values from one scheme may be added together, the case may be tried in any county where part of it happened, and property tied to the crime is subject to forfeiture. W. Va. Code § 61-3A-7 |
| Wisconsin | Wisconsin does not have a separately named organized retail theft crime in the sections read; it is handled within the retail theft law. Retail theft (shoplifting) is a Class A misdemeanor up to $500, a Class I felony over $500 up to $5,000, a Class H felony over $5,000 up to $10,000, and a Class G felony over $10,000. Retail theft of $500 or less becomes a Class I felony (up to 3 years and 6 months) if the person agreed or combined with another person to commit it and intended to sell the merchandise online; selling similar merchandise online within 90 days before is evidence of that intent. Values from multiple thefts by the same person in a course of conduct in the same prosecutorial unit may be added together, and a prior theft conviction can raise the grade. Wis. Stat. §§ 943.50(3m)(am), (4), (4g), (4m), (6), 939.50(3) |
| Wyoming | Wyoming has no state law that creates a separate organized retail theft offense. Shoplifting is prosecuted as theft, graded by value (a felony at $1,000 or more), and amounts taken under a common scheme or in the same transaction, from the same or different victims, may be added together to reach the felony level. Using or possessing a device to shield merchandise from theft alarms, or to remove theft detection tags, is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year, a fine up to $1,500, or both. W.S. 6-3-401 through 6-3-414 (reviewed); W.S. 6-3-402(c), (h), 6-3-411 |
General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.