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CRM 1000-1499

1333 - General Overview Of Theft From Interstate Shipment

Section 659 of title 18 proscribes the embezzlement, theft, or unlawful taking from certain listed facilities which are moving as, are part of, or constitute an interstate or foreign shipment. Similar acts with regard to the baggage in the possession of a common carrier for interstate or foreign transportation or of any property of a passenger in interstate or foreign transportation are also prohibited by the section. Section 659 also prohibits the buying, receiving, or possession of such goods or chattels by a person knowing them to have been embezzled or stolen.

A violation of 18 U.S.C. § 659 is a ten-year felony where the value of the stolen goods, chattels, money or baggage is $1,000 or more; otherwise the maximum penalty is three years.

[cited in JM 9-61.300]

[updated May 2015]