A law criminalizing organized retail crime went into effect on October 1, 2025. See the new statute here and the news report here. The new statute is an attempt to combat organized shoplifting rings that have been operating around the country in recent years. Research has shown, for example, that Maryland experienced a very steep percentage increase in shoplifting incidents between 2023 and 2024. The jump was measured as an increase of 25.55% from 25,329 in 2023 to 31,801 in 2024. The spike in shoplifting caused understandable concern among retailers who asked state lawmakers to intervene.

Broadly speaking, Maryland criminal law treats all forms of theft in a similar fashion and imposes similar punishments based on the value of the goods and/or services stolen. See Md. Crim. Code, §7–104 (g). In brief, here is the summary:

• Value stolen less than $100 — jail time of up to 90 days, fine of up to $500, or bot,h and restoration required; deemed a misdemeanor crime (Md. Crim. Code, §7-104(g)(3))
• $100 to $1500 — jail time of up to six months, fine of up to $500, or bot,h and restoration required, deemed a misdemeanor
• $1,500 to $25,000 — jail time of up to five years, fine of up to $10,000 or both, and restoration required; deemed a felony crime (Md. Crim. Code, §7-104(g)(1))
• $25,000 to $100,000 — up to 10 years, a fine of up to $15,000 or both, and restoration required; felony
• Greater than $100,000 — up to 20 years, fine of up to $25,000 or both, and restoration required; felony

As can be seen, theft of goods and services under $1,500 is deemed a misdemeanor crime with fairly short potential incarceration terms. According to critics, this statutory scheme gave incentives for thieves to engage in smaller shoplifting incidents (involving values less than $1,500) and to engage in more of them in numerous locations.

The new statute cracks down on these abuses by allowing Maryland prosecuting attorneys to combine different incidents of shoplifting and theft into one scheme. This allows a corresponding combination of the value of the amounts stolen, which leads to more serious charges and higher potential penalties upon conviction. Thus, in the past, if a thief stole $1,000 worth of merchandise from two locations, each crime would be a misdemeanor since each theft was less than the $1,500 minimum necessary to make the theft a felony. Under the new law, those two thefts would be combined, and the defendant would face felony charges for theft involving goods valued in excess of $1,500.

The new law also allows prosecutors to combine thefts even if they occur in separate counties, like Calvert and Charles Counties. According to reports, all thefts occurring within a 90-day period can be considered as part of an organized retail theft scheme.

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This article has been provided by the Law Office of Robert Castro. For more information or questions, contact our office to speak to an experienced Maryland criminal defense lawyer at (301) 870-1200. We are Waldorf, MD, Criminal Defense lawyers. Our address is 11701 Central Avenue, Suite 200, Waldorf, MD 20601.