It can be either. Taking someone else’s package is theft under ordinary California law. Two narrower mail theft laws, one state and one federal, also apply when the item is taken from the mail system: from a mailbox, a mail receptacle, a mail route or other authorized depository for mail, or a mail carrier, or from on or next to a collection box where it was left for mailing. Which law fits changes who prosecutes the case and what has to be proved.

Ordinary theft law covers any taken package

Taking a package from a porch, doorstep, or lobby is charged like any other taking of property. Penal Code section 484 defines theft to include feloniously stealing, taking, or carrying away the personal property of another. Value then sets the level. If the package and its contents are worth $950 or less, it is petty theft, a misdemeanor (Penal Code section 488; Penal Code section 490.2), unless the person has one of the prior convictions listed in section 490.2. Above $950, it can be charged as grand theft under Penal Code section 487(a).

Two provisions added by Proposition 36 in 2024 matter when more than one package is involved or the person has a record. The value of property from one or more acts of theft may be added together into a single count, with the total used to decide whether it is petty or grand theft (Penal Code section 490.3), so several packages worth less than $950 each can add up to grand theft. And a person who has two or more prior convictions for listed theft-related offenses, which include identity theft and mail theft under Penal Code section 530.5, and who is convicted of petty theft faces either up to one year in county jail or a sentence under Penal Code section 1170(h) (Penal Code section 666.1).

California’s own mail theft law

Penal Code section 530.5(e) makes mail theft, as defined in the federal mail theft statute, a separate California crime, punishable by a fine, up to a year in county jail, or both. That punishment does not depend on the value of what was taken. The subdivision also says a prosecution under it does not limit or preclude prosecution under any other law, so ordinary theft charges remain possible for the same conduct. Because it borrows the federal definition, it reaches only conduct that fits the federal statute described next.

Federal mail theft covers the mail system, not every package

The federal law, 18 U.S.C. section 1708, covers stealing, taking, or obtaining by fraud a letter, package, or other mail, or its contents, from the mail, a post office, a letter box, a mail receptacle, a mail route or other authorized depository for mail, or a mail carrier. It also covers mail left for collection on or next to a collection box or other authorized depository, and knowingly buying, receiving, concealing, or possessing mail stolen that way. The maximum penalty is a fine, up to five years in prison, or both. A federal charge is a federal case, brought in federal court rather than by the local district attorney.

The test is where the item was taken from, not whether it is a package. A package delivered by FedEx, UPS, or a retailer’s own drivers and left at a door was never in the mail or any of the places the statute lists, so neither mail theft law fits it, and the case is ordinary state theft. A U.S. Postal Service package taken from a mailbox, a cluster box, a postal parcel locker, or a carrier fits the federal definition. Whether a Postal Service package already left on an open porch still counts depends on the facts, so raise it with your lawyer rather than assume either answer.

What decides which law applies

  • How the package traveled. A Postal Service tracking number is a starting point, not an answer. A FedEx, UPS, or courier-only delivery points to ordinary theft.
  • Where it was taken from. A mailbox, cluster box, postal parcel locker, or carrier fits the mail theft definition. A porch, doorstep, or lobby where a non-postal courier left the package does not.
  • Who is investigating. Contact from a U.S. postal inspector suggests a federal investigation. A local police report and the district attorney suggest a state case under ordinary theft law, section 530.5(e), or both.
  • How many packages, and their value. Value sets the $950 line between petty and grand theft for an ordinary theft charge, and several takings may be combined. Value does not change the punishment range under either mail theft law.

If you are accused

What the shipping records show, who had access to the location, and how the package was found are the facts that decide which charge can be proved. If the accusation is that you ended up with a package someone else took, the state charge would be receiving stolen property, which requires proof that you knew it was stolen (Penal Code section 496(a)); the federal statute has a similar knowing-receipt provision for stolen mail. Call (800) 755-5174 to go over the facts of your case with the Law Offices of David S. Chesley.