Conversion Charge in Indiana: Penalties, Felony Triggers, and Defenses

A conversion charge in Indiana is a Class A misdemeanor by default, carrying up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $5,000. It becomes a felony only in specific situations involving motor vehicles, where the charge can rise to a Level 6 or Level 5 felony with prison time of up to six years.¹

What the State Has to Prove

Under Indiana Code 35-43-4-3, criminal conversion is knowingly or intentionally exerting unauthorized control over someone else’s property.¹ Two elements, nothing more. The prosecution has to show you knew what you were doing and that you had no right to control the property.

Notice what the state does not have to prove. There is no requirement to show you planned to keep the property forever, sell it, destroy it, or deprive the owner of its value. “I was going to give it back” is not an automatic defense to a conversion charge, which is where many people misunderstand the law. The act of taking control without authority is itself the offense.

The statute covers physical property such as tools, electronics, and vehicles. Whether it reaches purely intangible assets like digital files is less clear from the statutory text, though Indiana courts have broad discretion in interpreting what “property” means in the context of unauthorized control.

Misdemeanor Penalties

The baseline conversion offense is a Class A misdemeanor regardless of what the property is worth.¹ Under Indiana Code 35-50-3-2, a Class A misdemeanor carries a maximum of one year in jail and a fine of up to $5,000.² The court can also order restitution to the victim, which functions as a judgment lien and survives independently of probation or any sentence served.³

A misdemeanor conviction still creates a permanent criminal record unless it is expunged. That record appears on background checks and matters for employment, housing, and professional licensing, especially in fields that screen for dishonesty-related offenses like finance, healthcare, and education.

When Conversion Becomes a Felony

Conversion is a felony in Indiana only in three motor vehicle scenarios. There are no value-based felony tiers of the kind that exist for theft. Property worth $50,000 is still a misdemeanor conversion unless a vehicle is involved in one of the specific ways the statute lists.

Level 6 felony — vehicle used to commit a crime. Taking unauthorized control of someone’s vehicle with the intent to use it in committing any crime raises the charge to a Level 6 felony.¹

Level 6 felony — failure to return a leased vehicle. If you lease a motor vehicle under a written agreement that requires you to return it by a specific date, and you fail to return it within 30 days after that date (or within 3 days of receiving a written demand), the offense becomes a Level 6 felony.¹

Level 5 felony — vehicle used to commit a felony. Taking a vehicle without authorization and actually using it in the commission of a felony makes the conversion itself a Level 5 felony.¹

A Level 6 felony carries a prison sentence of six months to two and a half years, with an advisory sentence of one year, and a fine of up to $10,000.⁴ A Level 5 felony carries one to six years in prison, with an advisory sentence of three years, and a fine of up to $10,000.⁵ A felony conviction can also mean loss of civil rights and lasting barriers to housing and employment.

How Conversion Compares to Theft

Conversion and theft overlap, and prosecutors sometimes have a choice between them. The difference is intent. Theft under Indiana Code 35-43-4-2 requires proof that the defendant acted “with intent to deprive the other person of any part of its value or use.” Conversion does not. Unauthorized control alone is enough.¹

Because conversion has a lower proof burden, officers and prosecutors sometimes charge it when the deprivation-of-value element in a theft case would be hard to prove. The tradeoff is on the penalty side. Theft has value-based felony escalators: property worth $750 or more makes theft a Level 6 felony, and property worth $50,000 or more makes it a Level 5 felony.⁶ Conversion has no value-based tiers at all; the only path to a felony conversion runs through the motor vehicle rules above.

Defenses to a Conversion Charge

The best defense usually targets whichever element is weakest for the state. Because the statute is built on “unauthorized” and “knowingly or intentionally,” defenses tend to attack one of those two words.

Consent is the most direct. If the owner gave permission to use or possess the property, the control was not unauthorized. Text messages, emails, verbal agreements, or a course of dealing between the parties can all establish consent. The harder cases involve someone who had permission at first and then exceeded its scope, like borrowing a car for the afternoon and keeping it a week. Whether that crosses the line turns on the specific facts.

Lack of knowledge or intent is a separate route. The statute requires the defendant to act “knowingly or intentionally.” If someone genuinely believed the property was theirs, or did not realize they were controlling someone else’s belongings, that belief undercuts the required mental state. Good-faith ownership disputes, where both sides have a plausible claim to the same property, often fit here.

Procedural defenses are a third category. Evidence from an unlawful search, a Miranda violation during a custodial interrogation, or other constitutional problems in the investigation can get evidence suppressed or charges dismissed. These defenses do not argue about whether the conversion happened; they attack how the state built its case.

Civil Lawsuits on Top of the Criminal Case

Conversion carries civil exposure in addition to criminal penalties, and the numbers can get large. Under Indiana Code 34-24-3-1, a person who suffers financial loss from conversion can recover up to three times their actual damages, plus attorney’s fees, court costs, and travel expenses.⁷ The treble damages here are a specific statutory multiplier for crime victims, not punitive damages in the traditional sense.

Retailers get an extra protection. When a retailer sues over conversion, state law presumes at least $100 in losses, even if the property was returned or was worth less. A defendant found liable in one of these civil actions cannot collect insurance or indemnification to cover the judgment.⁷

The civil case runs independently of the criminal prosecution. The burden of proof is lower, a preponderance of the evidence rather than beyond a reasonable doubt, so someone acquitted at trial can still lose a civil suit over the same conduct.

Bankruptcy will not necessarily wipe out a conversion judgment. Under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(6), debts arising from “willful and malicious injury” to another person’s property cannot be discharged, and deliberately exercising unauthorized control over someone’s property frequently meets that standard. If the conversion involved a fiduciary relationship or amounted to embezzlement, § 523(a)(4) provides a separate exception to discharge.⁸ The victim has to file an adversary proceeding to invoke them, but the practical result is that the judgment can follow the defendant through bankruptcy and remain enforceable afterward.

How Long Prosecutors Have to File

Indiana sets firm deadlines for charging. Misdemeanor conversion must be filed within two years of the offense. For the Level 5 or Level 6 felony versions involving motor vehicles, prosecutors have five years. One exception: when an elected or appointed official is accused of converting public funds, the limitations clock is tolled while they remain in office.⁹

1
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-43-4-3 – Conversion
2
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-50-3-2 – Class A Misdemeanor
3
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-50-5-3 – Restitution Order
4
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-50-2-7 – Level 6 Felony
5
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-50-2-6 – Level 5 Felony
6
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-43-4-2 – Theft
7
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-24-3-1 – Offenses Against Property; Recovery of Damages, Costs, and Attorney’s Fee
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 523 – Exceptions to Discharge
9
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-41-4-2 – Periods of Limitation