Larceny from a person in Massachusetts is a felony under General Laws Chapter 266, Section 25, punishable by up to five years in state prison or up to two and a half years in a house of correction, no matter how much the stolen property is worth. 1General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 266 Section 25 The law treats theft taken directly off someone’s body or out of their immediate control as a serious offense from the start, skipping the dollar-value tiers that apply to general larceny. A conviction also triggers federal firearm restrictions, possible immigration consequences, and lasting employment problems.
What Counts as Taking Property “From a Person”
Three things have to be true. You took someone else’s property, you took it directly from their body or immediate physical control, and you intended to keep it permanently.
Pickpocketing is the classic example. The charge also covers snatching a phone out of someone’s hand, pulling a wallet from a purse still on the victim’s shoulder, or grabbing a bag the victim is actively holding. What ties these together is proximity: the item had to be on the victim or close enough that the victim had immediate physical control over it. Stealing a laptop off a table across the room while the owner stands nearby is usually general larceny, not larceny from a person.
Intent to permanently deprive is the mental element. Borrowing without permission or taking something by genuine mistake does not satisfy it. In practice, courts read intent from conduct. Walking off quickly, hiding the item, or fleeing all point toward permanent intent even when a defendant later says otherwise.
Penalties
Standard Sentence
Section 25(b) sets the standard range at up to five years in state prison or up to two and a half years in a house of correction. 1General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 266 Section 25 The value of what was taken does not change this range. Picking a pocket with $20 in it exposes you to the same maximum as taking a $5,000 watch off a victim’s wrist.
Victim Age 65 or Older
Section 25(a) handles theft from a victim who is 65 or older. The base penalty matches the standard charge, but a second or subsequent conviction for stealing from an elderly victim carries a mandatory minimum of two years in prison. 1General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 266 Section 25 That sentence cannot be reduced, and the defendant is ineligible for probation, parole, work release, or good-conduct deductions until at least one full year has been served. Courts also lose the ability to place repeat offenders aged 17 or older on probation for this offense.
Habitual Offender Status
A defendant with two or more prior felony convictions that each resulted in state prison sentences of at least three years can be classified as a habitual criminal under Chapter 279, Section 25. That finding requires the court to impose the maximum sentence for the current felony. 2Mass.gov. Massachusetts General Laws c.279 Section 25 – Punishment of Habitual Criminals For larceny from a person, that means the full five years with no eligibility for probation, parole, or work release.
How It Differs From General Larceny and Robbery
General larceny under Section 30 covers theft that does not involve taking property directly from a person’s body or immediate control, and its penalties scale with value. Property worth more than $1,200, or a firearm of any value, is punishable by up to five years in state prison or a fine of up to $25,000 and up to two years in jail. Property worth $1,200 or less carries up to one year in jail or a fine of up to $1,500. 3Mass.gov. Massachusetts Code c.266 Section 30 – Larceny; General Provisions and Penalties Larceny from a person ignores value and starts at the felony level.
Robbery adds force or intimidation. If you use violence, threaten it, or put the victim in fear to take the property, the charge rises from larceny from a person to robbery, which carries significantly steeper penalties. The line can be thin. Quietly lifting a wallet from a back pocket is larceny from a person. Shoving the victim first, or threatening them if they resist, is robbery.
Defenses
The strongest defenses attack the specific elements the prosecution must prove.
No Intent to Permanently Deprive
Larceny requires intent to keep the property permanently. A defendant who genuinely believed they were borrowing, or who took something intending to return it, has not met that element. Credibility is everything here. Judges and juries weigh intent against the whole picture, including concealment and flight.
Mistaken Identification
Eyewitness identifications are often unreliable, especially after brief encounters, in poor lighting, or under stress. Cross-examination and expert testimony on the limits of memory can be decisive when a case rests on a single witness.
Not Taken “From the Person”
If the property was not on the victim’s body or within their immediate physical control at the moment of the taking, the appropriate charge is general larceny. This does not produce an acquittal, but it can drop the case out of felony territory if the value was $1,200 or less.
Diminished Capacity
Because larceny from a person is a specific-intent crime, a defendant whose mental illness or cognitive impairment prevented forming that intent can raise diminished capacity. It is not an insanity defense and does not lead to acquittal, but it can reduce the conviction to a lesser offense requiring less mental culpability. It typically requires expert testimony, and not every court accepts it.
Claim of Right
A defendant who honestly believed the property was theirs has a defense. The belief does not have to be legally correct, only genuinely held. Taking back your own jacket from someone who grabbed it by mistake is not larceny, even if the other person thought it was theirs.
Collateral Consequences
The sentence is only part of what a conviction costs.
Firearms
Federal law prohibits anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison from possessing firearms or ammunition. 4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts Larceny from a person carries up to five years, so a conviction triggers the ban. It applies even if the actual sentence was probation or suspended. The maximum possible punishment controls, not what the judge imposed.
Immigration
For non-citizens, the stakes are high. Federal immigration law classifies a theft offense as an “aggravated felony” when the term of imprisonment is at least one year, and for immigration purposes a suspended sentence counts toward that term. 5Legal Information Institute. 8 USC 1101(a)(43) – Aggravated Felony An aggravated felony conviction makes a non-citizen deportable and generally bars relief such as asylum and cancellation of removal. Even a shorter sentence can trigger deportability or inadmissibility as a crime involving moral turpitude.
Employment and Licensing
Massachusetts limits how far back employers can look at misdemeanor convictions, but felonies face fewer restrictions on employer inquiries. Licensed professions, particularly in finance, healthcare, law, and education, apply their own fitness standards, and a theft-related felony frequently triggers disciplinary proceedings, license denials, or revocations.
Jury Service
A felony conviction disqualifies a person from federal jury service unless their civil rights have been legally restored. 6United States Courts. Juror Qualifications, Exemptions and Excuses Massachusetts imposes similar restrictions for state juries.
Restitution
Massachusetts courts routinely order defendants to compensate victims for financial losses from the crime. Restitution covers the value of the stolen property and related out-of-pocket expenses such as replacement costs. The court weighs the defendant’s financial resources and ability to pay when setting the amount and schedule, and it is typically imposed as a condition of probation. 7Mass.gov. Criminal Procedure Rule 49 – Restitution
If a defendant falls behind, a court can hold a hearing on whether the failure was willful. Someone who genuinely cannot pay should not face probation revocation for inability alone, but a defendant who has the means and refuses can be found in violation. Pay stubs, benefit statements, and similar records matter when hardship is real.
Sealing the Record Later
Massachusetts allows people to petition to seal certain criminal records, which removes them from standard background checks while keeping them visible to law enforcement. 8Mass.gov. Find Out if You Can Seal Your Criminal Record For felony convictions like larceny from a person, the standard waiting period is seven years from the date of disposition, release from incarceration, or release from supervision, whichever comes last. Misdemeanor convictions carry a three-year waiting period. A new conviction or period of incarceration during the waiting period restarts the clock on all cases.
Petitions go to the Massachusetts Probation Service, and eligibility does not guarantee approval. Sealing helps with private-sector employment and housing applications, but sealed records remain visible to law enforcement and some government agencies, and they can still be considered in future sentencing.