Larceny Under $1,200 in Massachusetts: Penalties, Defenses, Sealing

Larceny under $1,200 in Massachusetts is a misdemeanor under General Laws Chapter 266, Section 30, punishable by up to one year in a house of correction and a fine of up to $1,500.¹ Those are the ceilings, not the norm. First-time defendants often resolve these cases without a criminal conviction, whether through a dismissal at a clerk-magistrate hearing, a pretrial diversion program, or a continuance without a finding. What actually happens in your case depends on the evidence, your record, and decisions made well before a judge is involved.

What the Commonwealth Has to Prove

To convict you, the prosecution must prove three things beyond a reasonable doubt: that you took someone else’s property, that you intended to permanently deprive the owner of it, and that the property was worth $1,200 or less.¹ Weakness in any one element can sink the case.

Intent is where most contested cases are fought. Simply having property that turns out to be stolen doesn’t prove you meant to steal it. The prosecution has to show your state of mind through your actions, your statements, the circumstances of the taking, or what you did with the property afterward. Someone who walks out of a store holding an item they forgot to scan is in a very different position than someone who concealed merchandise and headed for the exit.

Value matters because it sets the ceiling on the charge. If the property is worth more than $1,200, the offense becomes felony larceny, punishable by up to five years in state prison or a fine of up to $25,000.¹ Courts generally look at fair market value at the time of the theft, not the original purchase price or the cost to replace the item. When the alleged value is near the line, expect appraisals and pricing evidence to become one of the most contested issues in the case. A jury that convicts must also determine whether the value exceeded $1,200 so the judge knows the applicable sentencing range.²

What a Conviction Actually Costs

The statutory maximum is one year in a house of correction, a $1,500 fine, or both.¹ The court can also order restitution. Under Massachusetts court rules, the judge determines the victim’s actual economic loss and then has discretion to set a restitution amount up to that figure.³ In practice, first-offense larceny under $1,200 rarely produces jail time. Probation, community service, and restitution are much more common.

The lasting damage is usually the record itself. A larceny conviction shows up on background checks and can create problems with employment, housing, professional licensing, and college admissions. For noncitizens, the immigration consequences can be worse than any sentence a state judge imposes.

How These Cases Usually End

The Clerk-Magistrate Hearing

Many people charged with misdemeanor larceny in Massachusetts get a chance most defendants elsewhere never see: a clerk-magistrate hearing. This is a preliminary proceeding where a clerk-magistrate decides whether there is enough probable cause to issue a criminal complaint in the first place. If the clerk-magistrate declines to issue the complaint, no charges are filed and nothing appears on your criminal record.

These hearings typically apply when you were not arrested at the scene but instead received a summons in the mail, which is common in larceny cases where police arrive after the fact. The hearing is your first and often your best chance to keep a charge from ever existing. A strong showing at this stage, whether through evidence of mistaken identity, questions about intent, or the circumstances of the alleged theft, can end the case before it starts. By the time you reach arraignment, the complaint has already issued and you are formally a defendant.

Continuance Without a Finding

The most common resolution for a first-offense case is a continuance without a finding, known as a CWOF. You admit there is enough evidence for the prosecution to convict, but the court does not enter a guilty finding. You are placed on probation for a set period, and if you complete it without violations, the case is dismissed and no conviction goes on your record.

A CWOF is not the same as an acquittal. It appears on your criminal record as a case that was continued without a finding, and employers running a CORI (Criminal Offender Record Information) check will see it, at least until you become eligible to seal the record. It can also be treated as a conviction under federal immigration law, which is covered below. Even so, for most defendants a CWOF is a substantially better outcome than a guilty finding, because it avoids the collateral consequences that follow a formal conviction.

Pretrial Diversion

Some prosecutors offer pretrial diversion for first-time offenders, resulting in a complete dismissal if the defendant completes requirements like community service or a theft-awareness course. Whether diversion is on the table depends on the prosecutor, the strength of the evidence, the value of the property, the victim’s position, and your record. A defense attorney can push for it, but the offer is discretionary.

Defenses That Fit the Elements

The defenses available in a larceny case follow directly from what the prosecution has to prove. If any element falls short, the charge fails.

Lack of Intent

This is the most frequently raised defense. Evidence that you planned to return the item, believed you had permission to take it, or genuinely thought the property was yours can defeat the intent element. The claim-of-right defense is a specific version of this argument: if you honestly believed you had a legal right to the property, even if that belief was wrong, the intent element is not satisfied. Disputes over shared property, loaned items, and ambiguous ownership situations regularly give rise to this defense.

Mistaken Identity

When the alleged theft was not directly witnessed by the accuser, or when surveillance footage is unclear, mistaken identity becomes viable. Eyewitness identification is notoriously unreliable, and the defense can challenge it with alibi evidence, inconsistencies in descriptions, or problems with how an identification was conducted.

Insufficient Evidence of Value

Because $1,200 separates misdemeanor from felony, challenging the valuation is sometimes the most important defense move even if it doesn’t produce a full acquittal. If the prosecution cannot prove value with reasonable certainty, the charge may be reduced or the case weakened.

Sealing the Record Afterward

Massachusetts allows you to petition to seal your criminal record after a waiting period. For a misdemeanor, the wait is at least three years from the date of disposition, including any period of incarceration. For a felony, the wait is seven years.⁴ If your case ended in a CWOF followed by a dismissal, the three-year clock starts on the date the CWOF was entered.

To seal a misdemeanor record, you cannot have been found guilty of any other criminal offense in the Commonwealth during the three-year waiting period.⁴ The process is straightforward: you submit a Petition to Seal to the Commissioner of Probation by mail, and there is no filing fee. Once sealed, the record is no longer visible on a standard CORI check, and you can lawfully deny having a criminal record in most contexts.

If You’re Not a U.S. Citizen

Immigration risk in a larceny case can dwarf the criminal penalty. Under federal law, theft with the intent to permanently deprive is classified as a crime involving moral turpitude.⁵ A conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude can make a noncitizen inadmissible or deportable, even a lawful permanent resident.⁶

A narrow petty offense exception applies when the maximum possible sentence for the offense does not exceed one year, the person was convicted of only one such crime, and any sentence imposed was six months or less.⁶ Massachusetts larceny under $1,200 fits the first criterion because the maximum sentence is exactly one year. The exception is fragile, though. It only covers a single offense, and if the imposed sentence exceeds six months, it does not apply, regardless of how much time was actually served. Federal immigration authorities may also treat a CWOF as a conviction even though Massachusetts courts do not. Any noncitizen facing a larceny charge should consult an immigration attorney before accepting any plea or CWOF.

If the Item Came From a Store

Massachusetts has a separate shoplifting statute, Chapter 266, Section 30A, that applies specifically to taking merchandise from a retail store.⁷ The two charges overlap, and prosecutors sometimes have discretion over which to bring. The penalties are different in ways that can matter.

Under the shoplifting statute, when the retail value is under $250, a first offense is punishable only by a fine of up to $250, with no jail time. A second offense carries a fine between $100 and $500. Jail becomes possible only on a third or subsequent offense (up to two years) or when the retail value reaches $250 or more (up to two and a half years in a house of correction and a fine of up to $1,000).⁷ A first-offense Section 30 larceny charge theoretically allows up to a year of incarceration regardless of dollar amount. If you took merchandise from a store, which statute you’re charged under can meaningfully affect the maximum penalties you face, and it’s worth asking your attorney whether the case can be moved to Section 30A.

1
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 266, Section 30
2
Mass.gov. Jury Instruction 8.520 Larceny by Stealing
3
Mass.gov. Criminal Procedure Rule 49 – Restitution
4
Mass.gov. Massachusetts General Laws c276 100A
5
U.S. Department of State. 9 FAM 302.3 Ineligibility Based on Criminal Activity
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens
7
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 266, Section 30a