Porch pirates beware: Mail theft is now a felony in Pennsylvania

Stealing a package from someone’s porch could now result in a felony charge. Last week, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a bill into law that increases the penalties for mail theft.

“This bill focuses on repeat offenders by using a grading system that would increase the penalties if the thief had prior convictions for theft of mail,” Sen. Frank Farry (R., Bucks), who sponsored the bill, said in a statement.

In Pennsylvania, mail theft charges have been based on the value of the package. Charges also will be affected by repeat offenses.

A first instance of theft in which the package is valued at less than $200 would be charged as a summary offense, which carries a possible $300 fine and up to 90 days in jail. The penalties would increase from there. Repeat offenders on their third offense or those who steal mail valued at more than $2,000 would face a felony of the third degree, punishable by up to seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine.

Stealing items delivered by the United States Postal Service (or receiving them) is already a federal crime. Farry said the state law allows for local prosecution. The state law applies to all mail deliveries, including from private company companies like Amazon, UPS, and FedEx.

Over 1.7 million packages were stolen or went missing every day in the country as of 2019, according to the New York Times. In Pennsylvania, close to 2 million people have experienced mail theft, and the average value of the package stolen is $43, according to background provided in the legislation.

An estimated 3,290 packages had been reported stolen in Philadelphia as of Dec. 14 — about 10% more than in 2022, according to the Philadelphia Police Department. That’s on top of an increase of about 16% in the city between 2021 and 2022.

With this new law, Pennsylvania joins eight other states that also have porch piracy laws, according to CBS News Pittsburgh. Last year, New Jersey passed a law to make package theft punishable by up to five years in prison.

Farry said it’s too early to know what the outcome of the new state laws could be. “I don’t know if there’s been enough on the books where you statistically could look at it,” he said.

The porch theft bill was part of a package of legislation that Farry and other state representatives announced in September to tackle what Farry calls “evolving” crimes, or ones that have become issues more recently and may not have an equivalent penalty in legislation.

“Times have changed,” he said. “We’ve evolved … to now penalizing people for stealing packages off your porch.”

The legislation package includes provisions that address theft of catalytic converters, rioting, and vehicle street racing, among others.

Asked whether he is hopeful other provisions in the package will pass now that the mail theft bill has been signed into law, Farry said, “It’s the long game. Very rarely do you turn something around very quickly.”