Maryland criminal law treats “theft-type” crimes in a similar and uniform manner in terms of punishments and classifications. This is true also for “theft-adjacent” crimes like receipt of stolen property. Thus, like other theft crimes, for punishments, the sentencing guidelines and potential punishments depend on the value of the things or services stolen. See Md. Crim. Code, §7-104(g). For receipt of stolen property, these are:

• If the value stolen is less than $100 — potential jail time of up to 90 days, a fine of up to $500 or both, and restoration required; deemed a misdemeanor crime; note there is a two-year statute of limitation for this crime (Md. Crim. Code, §7-104(i)
• Value from $100 to $1,500 — potential jail time of up to six months, a fine of up to $500 or both, and restoration required, deemed a misdemeanor crime; for a second or subsequent conviction, potential jail time increases to up to one year; two-year statute of limitation
• Value from $1,500 to $25,000 — potential jail time of up to five years, a fine of up to $10,000 or both, and restoration required; deemed a felony crime
• Value from $25,000 to $100,000 — potential jail time of up to 10 years, a fine of up to $15,000 or bot,h and restoration required; considered a felony crime
• Value greater than $100,000 — potential jail time of up to 20 years, a fine of up to $25,000 or bot,h and restoration required; considered a felony crime

Criminal elements

To obtain a conviction, the Maryland government prosecutors must prove various criminal elements beyond a reasonable doubt. For the crime of receipt of stolen property, the elements are:

• Personal property that, at the time, was stolen
• Defendant’s possession of said alleged stolen property
• Knowledge that the property was stolen OR having a belief that the goods were probably stolen
• Intent to deprive the owner of the property of the property OR willfully or knowingly using, concealing, or abandoning the property in a manner that deprives the owner of the property OR using, concealing, or abandoning the property knowing that the use, concealment, or abandonment probably will deprive the owner of the property

In terms of proof and evidence, the statute allows prosecutors to obtain and use “extra” evidence where it is claimed that the defendant is/was in the business of buying or selling stolen goods. In those cases, the prosecution can attempt to prove the “knowledge element” required by providing proof that the defendant possessed stolen goods from more than one person on separate occasions, had acquired stolen property in a separate transaction, or the defendant acquired the alleged stolen goods for a payment that the defendant knew was far below a reasonable value.

Criminal defenses

If Maryland criminal prosecutors are unable to prove all of the elements listed above, they will fail to obtain a conviction. This is generally called the “failure of proof” criminal defense. Other possible criminal defenses include alibi, mistake, statute of limitation, and accident. Depending on the case, defenses may also be based on procedural and/or constitutional irregularities.

Contact Waldorf, Maryland Criminal Defense Lawyer Robert Castro Today

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 2670 Crain Highway, Waldorf, MD 20601.