Theft Under the PA Crimes Code: Grades, Penalties, and ARD

Theft penalties in Pennsylvania run from a $300 fine for a first-time minor shoplifting charge to a maximum of 20 years in prison for theft of $500,000 or more. Where your case falls on that scale depends mostly on the value of what was taken, but several other factors can bump the grade upward: what the property was (a firearm, a vehicle), how it was taken (from a person, by breach of trust), and, in shoplifting cases, whether you have prior offenses. A conviction also brings restitution, potential loss of firearm rights, and immigration risk for non-citizens.

How the Grade and Maximum Penalty Are Set

Pennsylvania grades theft offenses on a value ladder under 18 Pa.C.S. § 3903. The grade determines the maximum sentence and fine, set separately by 18 Pa.C.S. § 106 and § 1101.¹²³

Third-degree misdemeanor — property worth less than $50. Up to 1 year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
Second-degree misdemeanor — $50 to less than $200. Up to 2 years and a $5,000 fine.
First-degree misdemeanor — $200 to $2,000. Up to 5 years and a $10,000 fine.
Third-degree felony — more than $2,000, or theft of a car, motorcycle, airplane, or motorboat. Up to 7 years and a $15,000 fine.
Second-degree felony — theft of a firearm. Up to 10 years and a $25,000 fine.
First-degree felony — theft of $500,000 or more, or operating as a stolen-firearms dealer. Up to 20 years and a $25,000 fine.

Two situations upgrade a case regardless of value. Property taken directly from another person (a snatched purse, for example) is automatically a first-degree misdemeanor, even if the item is worth $20. The same treatment applies when the theft involves a breach of fiduciary duty, such as a financial advisor skimming client funds.¹

The same grading ladder covers the main theft offenses in Chapter 39: theft by unlawful taking (§ 3921), theft by deception (§ 3922), receiving stolen property (§ 3925), and theft of services (§ 3926).⁴⁵⁶⁷ Two extra bumps apply to receiving stolen property: someone in the business of buying or selling stolen goods faces a third-degree felony regardless of value, and if the stolen items include firearms the charge becomes a first-degree felony.¹

Prosecutors can also add values together. Multiple thefts committed under a single scheme or course of conduct may be aggregated into one high-value charge, so months of small utility tampering can be charged as a single felony rather than a series of summary offenses.⁷

Retail Theft Follows Its Own Ladder

Shoplifting is graded under 18 Pa.C.S. § 3929, and it escalates by prior record as much as by dollar value.⁸ The offense covers more than walking out with unpaid merchandise. Switching price tags, moving items into cheaper packaging, and under-ringing at self-checkout all count.

First offense, under $150 — summary offense. Up to 90 days in jail and a $300 fine.
Second offense, under $150 — second-degree misdemeanor. Up to 2 years and a $5,000 fine.
Third or subsequent offense, any value — third-degree felony. Up to 7 years and a $15,000 fine.
Any offense over $1,000, or involving a firearm or motor vehicle — third-degree felony regardless of prior record.

The escalation is steep. A first shoplifting charge for a $30 item is the lowest-level criminal offense in Pennsylvania. A third charge for the same $30 item is a felony carrying years in prison. Retailers can also pursue civil recovery on top of whatever the criminal court imposes.

Restitution Comes on Top of the Sentence

A theft conviction almost always carries a restitution order under 18 Pa.C.S. § 1106. Restitution reimburses the victim for the value of what was taken or damaged and is separate from any fine, which goes to the state. It is not optional, and it is not a substitute for jail or probation.

Courts enforce it. If you can afford to pay and don’t, the court can extend probation, add penalties, or revoke probation and send you to jail. Pennsylvania courts have revoked probation where a defendant had the ability to pay restitution but deliberately avoided doing so.⁹

How Long Prosecutors Have to File Charges

The statute of limitations for theft is five years from the date of the offense. This covers the whole run of theft offenses under 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 3921 through 3933: unlawful taking, deception, receiving stolen property, retail theft, and theft of services.¹⁰ That’s longer than Pennsylvania’s default two-year limit for most crimes, reflecting how long embezzlement and deception schemes can take to surface. Once five years pass without charges, prosecution is generally barred.

Avoiding a Conviction: ARD

First-time offenders charged with nonviolent theft may qualify for Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition, a pretrial diversion program. If the district attorney approves your application and you complete the conditions (typically community service, restitution, and theft-education courses), the charges are dismissed. To be eligible, you generally cannot have any prior misdemeanor or felony convictions anywhere, and you cannot have been through ARD or a similar program before. Approval rests with the prosecutor’s discretion. Completing ARD keeps a conviction off your record entirely, which is a materially better outcome than even the lightest sentence at trial.

What a Judge Actually Imposes

The grade sets the ceiling. The sentence a judge actually hands down is guided by Pennsylvania’s Sentencing Guidelines, which produce advisory ranges based on the seriousness of the offense and your prior record score. A first-time third-degree felony theft will not draw the same sentence as the same charge with three priors.

Judges also weigh aggravating and mitigating circumstances. Organized theft operations, thefts targeting elderly or otherwise vulnerable victims, and thefts with many victims push sentences higher. Voluntary return of the property, cooperation, and genuine remorse pull them down. The guidelines are advisory, so judges retain real discretion within the statutory maximum.

Consequences That Outlast the Sentence

Your Criminal Record

A theft conviction stays on your record indefinitely unless it is sealed or expunged. It shows up on employment and housing screens and matters especially in licensed professions where dishonesty is disqualifying.

Pennsylvania’s Clean Slate Law provides a path. Under Act 36 of 2023 (Clean Slate 3.0), misdemeanor convictions can be automatically sealed after seven years without a new misdemeanor or felony conviction, provided court-ordered fines and costs are paid. Property-related felonies, including theft, may be sealed after ten years by petitioning the court.¹¹ Summary offenses, like a first-offense retail theft under $150, can be expunged after five years with no new arrests and all fines paid.¹² Sealing and expungement are not the same: sealed records remain visible to law enforcement and some employers in sensitive fields, while expunged records are destroyed.

Firearm Rights

A theft conviction can end your right to own a firearm. Under federal law, anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison is permanently barred from possessing a firearm. That means any Pennsylvania theft conviction graded as a first-degree misdemeanor or higher triggers the federal prohibition, since first-degree misdemeanors carry up to five years.¹³

Pennsylvania has its own separate restriction. Under 18 Pa.C.S. § 6105, a second felony conviction for theft by unlawful taking or receiving stolen property results in a state-level ban on possessing firearms.¹⁴ The federal ban applies after a single qualifying conviction.

Immigration

Theft is generally treated as a crime involving moral turpitude under federal immigration law, which can make a non-citizen deportable or inadmissible. A narrow petty-offense exception exists where the maximum possible sentence is one year or less and the person did not actually serve six months. In Pennsylvania terms, only a third-degree misdemeanor theft (under $50) might fall within that exception, and the outcome still depends on the specific facts and the immigration judge. Anyone who is not a U.S. citizen should consult an immigration attorney before accepting any plea, because a plea that looks minor in criminal court can carry permanent immigration consequences that a criminal defense attorney alone may not anticipate.

1
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 18 Section 3903 – Grading of Theft Offenses
2
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 18 Section 106 – Classes of Offenses
3
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 18 Section 1101 – Fines
4
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 18 Section 3921 – Theft by Unlawful Taking or Disposition
5
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 18 Chapter 39 – Theft and Related Offenses
6
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 18 Section 3925 – Receiving Stolen Property
7
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 18 Section 3926 – Theft of Services
8
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 18 Chapter 39 – Theft and Related Offenses – Section 3929
9
FindLaw. Commonwealth v Colon – Pennsylvania Superior Court 1998
10
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Statutes Title 42 Section 5552 – Other Offenses
11
Montgomery County, PA – Official Website. Expungements and Clean Slate
12
Pennsylvania Courts. Rule 490 – Procedure for Obtaining Expungement in Summary Cases
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code Section 922 – Unlawful Acts
14
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 18 Section 6105 – Persons Not to Possess Firearms