What’s the Penalty for Being a Porch Pirate in Colorado?

As the holiday season approaches, online shopping for gifts increases. This also means that packages delivered by the United States Postal Service, FedEx, UPS, and Amazon increase as well.

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Unfortunately, this time of year is also the period in which porch pirates are the most active.

So, what are the consequences of being a porch pirate in Colorado?

Porch Piracy is Multiple Crimes in Colorado

First of all, it should go without saying that stealing a package from someone else’s property is not just theft, but it’s also trespassing.

Of course, theft on its own is highly illegal, but the fact that porch pirates typically don’t even know what they’re stealing makes this type of crime potentially even more serious.

Porch Piracy in Colorado: Who Delivered the Package Matters

One of the major factors in deciding the fate of a porch pirate is, believe it or not, what organization delivered the package. For example, because the United States Postal Service is a government entity, stealing a package from someone’s porch after it was delivered via U.S. mail can be a federal crime.

Porch Piracy in Colorado: The Value of the Package Matters

Because thieves rarely know what’s in the package they steal, what the item that was stolen is worth makes a difference with regard to the punishment. For example, if the package is worth less than $2,000, the crime will likely be a misdemeanor resulting in a maximum of a $5,000 fine and up to 18 months in jail.

However, if the package was delivered by the USPS, the fine increases to a maximum of $250,000, and the jail time increases to as many as five years.

If the value of the item is worth more than $2,000, the theft now becomes a felony with a penalty of up to one million dollars in fines and up to 24 years in prison.

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