Is theft a felony in Pennsylvania?

It depends on value and property type. Under 18 Pa.C.S. § 3903, theft of property worth $2,000 or more is a third-degree felony, a firearm or motor vehicle is a second-degree felony regardless of value, and $500,000 or more is a first-degree felony. Theft under $50 is a third-degree misdemeanor, $50 to under $200 is a second-degree misdemeanor, and $200 to under $2,000 is a first-degree misdemeanor.

How does Pennsylvania decide the value of stolen property?

Value means fair market value at the time and place of the offense, not what the item cost new. Police affidavits frequently use retail or replacement cost, which inflates the grading. Depreciation, condition, and comparable-sale evidence are the standard tools for moving a case down a grade, and in felony cases that argument is often the whole defense.

What is the difference between theft and receiving stolen property?

Theft by unlawful taking under § 3921 alleges you took the property. Receiving stolen property under § 3925 alleges you possessed it knowing, or believing it probably had been, stolen. RSP is frequently the weaker charge because guilty knowledge cannot be proven from possession alone.

Can theft charges be dropped if I give the property back or pay for it?

Returning property and paying restitution do not dismiss a criminal case by themselves, but they change the negotiation substantially. Combined with an ARD or county diversion application, they are usually the fastest route to a disposition with no conviction and an expungement at the end.

Is retail theft graded differently from regular theft in PA?

Yes. Retail theft under § 3929 has its own grading scale: a first offense under $150 is a summary offense, a first offense of $150 or more is an M2, a second offense is an M1 regardless of value, and a third or subsequent offense — or merchandise worth $1,000 or more, or a firearm or motor vehicle — is a third-degree felony.

Can a contract dispute be charged as theft by deception?

It happens often in home-improvement, deposit, and unpaid-loan cases. Section 3922 requires an intentionally false impression at the time of the transaction — not a promise that turned out badly. Bank records showing money spent on materials, subcontractors, or partial performance directly contradict a criminal-intent theory.

Is a first-offense theft charge eligible for ARD in Pennsylvania?

Usually yes. First-offense theft, retail theft, receiving stolen property, and theft by deception are commonly ARD- or diversion-eligible in Dauphin, Cumberland, York, and Adams counties, especially where restitution is paid before the application. Completing ARD ends in dismissal and an expungement petition.

Will a theft charge show up on a background check?

Yes, from the day it is filed and before any disposition. Because theft is a crime of dishonesty, it does more damage on employment and licensing screens than many charges carrying higher jail exposure — which is why an expungeable outcome matters more here than the sentence itself.

Criminal Defense · Theft & Property Crimes

Theft charges in Pennsylvania.

Theft, retail theft, receiving stolen property, deception, and forgery are graded almost entirely on a dollar figure written by a police officer. This pillar maps every grade, the statutory maximums, and how these charges reduce into each other.

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Grading & sentencing ranges

Every theft grade, statute, and maximum.

Pennsylvania grades theft offenses from a summary offense up to a first-degree felony, and 18 Pa.C.S. § 3903 does almost all of the work. The tables below show the statutory ceiling for each grade — the number the legislature wrote, not the number you actually face.

Theft by Unlawful Taking (§ 3921) & Grading (§ 3903)

Statute: 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 3921, 3903[1][6][11]

Theft by Unlawful Taking (§ 3921) & Grading (§ 3903): offense grading and statutory maximum exposure under 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 3921, 3903
Offense & grading	Maximum exposure[11]
Theft — M3 (under $50) The lowest grading for theft by unlawful taking, deception, or receiving stolen property.	Up to 1 year, $2,500[1]
Theft — M2 ($50 to under $200) Value evidence, not intent, usually separates this grade from the M1.	Up to 2 years, $5,000[1]
Theft — M1 ($200 to under $2,000) The default filing grade in most Central PA theft cases.	Up to 5 years, $10,000[1]
Theft — F3 ($2,000 or more) Felony exposure driven entirely by the valuation in the affidavit of probable cause.	Up to 7 years, $15,000[1]
Theft — F2 (firearm, motor vehicle, or $100,000+) Graded a felony by the item taken, regardless of dollar value.	Up to 10 years, $25,000[1]
Theft — F1 ($500,000 or more) Reserved for large-scale schemes and aggregated losses.	Up to 20 years, $25,000[1]

Receiving Stolen Property, Deception & Services

Statute: 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 3925, 3922, 3926[3][2][4]

Receiving Stolen Property, Deception & Services: offense grading and statutory maximum exposure under 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 3925, 3922, 3926
Offense & grading	Maximum exposure[4]
Receiving stolen property — § 3925 Requires knowing, or believing the property probably had been, stolen. Possession alone is not enough.	Graded by value under § 3903[3]
Dealer in the business of buying stolen property § 3925(b) inferences apply to pawn, scrap, and resale operations.	Felony grading[3]
Theft by deception — § 3922 Intentionally creating or reinforcing a false impression. Puffery is expressly excluded by § 3922(b).	Graded by value under § 3903[3]
Theft of services — § 3926 Unpaid services, diverted utilities, and walk-out restaurant or hotel bills.	Graded by value under § 3903[3]

Retail Theft (§ 3929)

Statute: 18 Pa.C.S. § 3929[5][12]

Retail Theft (§ 3929): offense grading and statutory maximum exposure under 18 Pa.C.S. § 3929
Offense & grading	Maximum exposure[12]
Retail theft — summary (first offense under $150) Tried before the magisterial district judge, usually within weeks.	Up to 90 days, $300[5]
Retail theft — M2 (first offense $150 or more) The most common retail-theft grading in Central PA.	Up to 2 years, $5,000[5]
Retail theft — M1 (second offense) Prior retail-theft adjudications escalate the grade regardless of value.	Up to 5 years, $10,000[5]
Retail theft — F3 (third or subsequent, or $1,000+) Also an F3 where the merchandise is a firearm or motor vehicle.	Up to 7 years, $15,000[5]

Forgery & Bad Checks

Statute: 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 4101, 4105[7][8]

Forgery & Bad Checks: offense grading and statutory maximum exposure under 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 4101, 4105
Offense & grading	Maximum exposure[8]
Forgery — F2 § 4101 Where the writing is money, a security, or a government-issued instrument.	Up to 10 years, $25,000[7]
Forgery — F3 § 4101 Wills, deeds, contracts, and commercial instruments.	Up to 7 years, $15,000[7]
Forgery — M1 § 4101 Any other writing.	Up to 5 years, $10,000[7]
Bad checks — summary to F3 § 4105 M2 from $200 to under $500; M1 from $500 to under $75,000.	Summary under $200; F3 at $75,000+[7]

Maximums are statutory ceilings, not expected sentences. Actual outcomes depend on prior record score, offense gravity score, restitution, and county practice. Grading is set by 18 Pa.C.S. § 3903[6] and the offense statutes above; the sentencing ceilings come from 18 Pa.C.S. § 1103[11] for felonies and 18 Pa.C.S. § 1104[12] for misdemeanors.

How these charges relate

One number, seven possible outcomes.

The same set of facts can be a second-degree felony or a summary offense depending on how the property was valued and which statute the officer chose. Prosecutors start high; defense work is about driving the grade down the ladder before sentencing is ever in play. Step through each rung below to see what has to happen and what it costs your record.

The reduction ladder

Felony theft (F2/F3) → M1 → M2 → M3 → summary retail theft or disorderly conduct → withdrawal, dismissal, or ARD. Each step down shortens the record and opens an expungement path — and every step is usually an argument about value.

Interactive reduction ladder

Step 1 of 7 — walk the grade down rung by rung.

F2 · Up to 10 years

Theft — firearm, motor vehicle, or $100,000+ § 3903(a)

How a case lands here

The item taken is a firearm or a motor vehicle, or the alleged loss reaches six figures — grading is set by the property, not by what the property was worth.

What it means for your record

A second-degree felony conviction for a crime of dishonesty, reported to every licensing board and disqualifying for most employment involving money or inventory.

Currently viewing: Theft — firearm, motor vehicle, or $100,000+ § 3903(a). Grades and maximums are statutory ceilings — every case turns on the injury evidence, the complainant, and county practice.

Side by side: what each rung costs.

The same table read across shows why one rung of the ladder is worth fighting for. Grading is set by 18 Pa.C.S. § 3903[6], the jail and fine ceilings by § 1103[11] and § 1104[12], and the retail-theft grades by § 3929[5]. Cost figures are typical ranges for Central Pennsylvania cases, not quotes — restitution is set case by case and is owed on top of every fine.

Theft grading and cost comparison across the reduction ladder
Grade	Offenses that land here	What sets the grade	Jail ceiling	Fine ceiling	Typical cost in practice	Record afterward
F2	Theft § 3921 · RSP § 3925 · deception § 3922 — firearm, motor vehicle, or $100,000+	The item taken, not its price. A firearm or vehicle is an F2 at any value.	Up to 10 years	Up to $25,000	Felony-level fines plus court costs and full restitution; state-supervision and treatment costs on top of the sentence.	Lifetime felony for a crime of dishonesty. Not expungeable; pardon only.
F3	Theft § 3921 · RSP § 3925 · deception § 3922 · services § 3926 — $2,000 or more; retail theft § 3929 third offense or $1,000+	The valuation in the affidavit, plus aggregation of separate transactions into one scheme.	Up to 7 years	Up to $15,000	Fines and costs commonly in the low thousands, plus restitution at the Commonwealth's valuation — which is why valuation is litigated first.	Lifetime felony. Not expungeable; pardon only.
M1	Theft, RSP, deception, or services — $200 to under $2,000; retail theft § 3929 second offense	Fair market value under $2,000, or the Commonwealth dropping aggregation across complainants.	Up to 5 years	Up to $10,000	Typically fines and court costs in the high hundreds to low thousands, plus restitution and supervision fees on a probationary sentence.	Misdemeanor dishonesty conviction. Not expungeable while living; limited-access relief possible after 10 conviction-free years.
M2	Theft, RSP, deception, or services — $50 to under $200; retail theft § 3929 first offense of $150 or more	Itemized valuation under $200, or confirmation that a retail-theft file is a genuine first offense.	Up to 2 years	Up to $5,000	Fines and costs usually in the mid hundreds plus restitution; jail is uncommon on a first offense.	Misdemeanor conviction. Limited-access relief after 10 conviction-free years.
M3	Theft, RSP, deception, or services — under $50	Property worth under $50, or the lowest theft grade accepted as the negotiated landing spot.	Up to 1 year	Up to $2,500	Lowest misdemeanor fine range plus court costs and restitution; typically resolved without jail.	Misdemeanor conviction. Limited-access relief after 10 conviction-free years.
Summary	Retail theft § 3929 first offense under $150; non-theft landing spots such as disorderly conduct § 5503	A true first retail-theft offense under $150, or the Commonwealth accepting a non-theft summary.	Up to 90 days	Up to $300 (plus costs)	Fine and court costs, commonly a few hundred dollars all in, plus restitution. Resolved before the MDJ.	No misdemeanor dishonesty conviction. Expungeable after five arrest-free years under § 9122(b)(3).
Cleared	Withdrawal, dismissal, ARD, or county diversion on any of the offenses above	Restitution paid early, a failed element at the preliminary hearing, or first-offense diversion eligibility.	None	Program and administrative fees only	ARD and diversion fees plus full restitution — usually less than the fines and costs attached to a conviction.	No conviction. Expungement available immediately on dismissal or withdrawal, and on ARD completion.

Scroll the table horizontally to compare every column. Jail and fine figures are statutory ceilings, not expected sentences — the standard guideline range on a first-offense misdemeanor theft is far lower, and county practice on restitution, costs, and supervision fees varies.

Where burglary and robbery fit.

Burglary under § 3502 is not graded on value at all. It is a first-degree felony as charged, dropping to a second-degree felony only where the building is not adapted for overnight accommodation and no person is present[9]. Robbery under § 3701 is a theft committed with force: a first-degree felony for serious bodily injury, a second-degree felony where bodily injury is inflicted or threatened, and a third-degree felony for force however slight[10].

That distinction matters because the difference between a felony theft and a robbery is often a single sentence in the affidavit describing a push or a grab during a retail theft. Keeping a § 3929 case from becoming a § 3701 case is one of the highest-value things that happens at a preliminary hearing.

The theft defense hub.

Each child page covers one charge in depth — the statute, the grading, the defenses, and the ARD and expungement options. Click into whichever matches your case.

Theft Lawyer (§ 3921)

Theft by unlawful taking — how § 3903 grades value, why the affidavit's number decides felony versus misdemeanor, and the intent element.

Read the guide

Retail Theft Lawyer (§ 3929)

Shoplifting grading, prior-offense escalation to M1 and F3, loss-prevention evidence, and the summary-offense expungement.

Read the guide

Receiving Stolen Property (§ 3925)

The guilty-knowledge element, the § 3925(b) inferences, and why possession alone is not a conviction.

Read the guide

Theft by Deception (§ 3922)

Contract and deposit disputes charged as crimes, the civil–criminal line, aggregation, and the puffery exclusion.

Read the guide

How we defend theft and property crime cases.

Litigate valuation first
Value alone decides grading under § 3903. Replacement cost versus fair market value, depreciation, and retail markup routinely move a case from felony to misdemeanor — or from M1 to M3.
Attack the intent element
Theft requires intent to permanently deprive. A claim of right, disputed ownership, a borrowed item, and civil contract disputes charged as crimes are all real defenses on the merits.
Test guilty knowledge on RSP
Section 3925 requires knowing, or believing the property probably was, stolen. A receipt, a marketplace message thread, or a plausible purchase price usually defeats the element.
Break up aggregation
Prosecutors add separate transactions together to reach felony thresholds. Where they are not one scheme or one course of conduct, that aggregation does not hold.
Demand the objective record early
Surveillance video, loss-prevention reports, key-card and GPS logs, inventory records, and texts get purged quickly. We subpoena them before the preliminary hearing.
Pay restitution and drive diversion
Restitution paid up front, paired with an ARD or county diversion application, is the most reliable path to a non-conviction disposition and an expungement.
Protect licenses and employment
Theft is the dishonesty category employers, licensing boards, and landlords screen for hardest. We build the disposition around the reporting obligation, not just the sentence.

Where we appear

Theft defense across Central Pennsylvania.

Attorney Quinlan appears in the magisterial district courts and Courts of Common Pleas in Dauphin, Cumberland, York, and Adams counties. Start with your city:

FAQ

Frequently asked questions.

Common questions about theft, retail theft, receiving stolen property, and fraud charges in Pennsylvania — grading by value, penalties, diversion, and record consequences.

It depends on value and property type. Under 18 Pa.C.S. § 3903, theft of property worth $2,000 or more is a third-degree felony, a firearm or motor vehicle is a second-degree felony regardless of value, and $500,000 or more is a first-degree felony. Theft under $50 is a third-degree misdemeanor, $50 to under $200 is a second-degree misdemeanor, and $200 to under $2,000 is a first-degree misdemeanor.
Value means fair market value at the time and place of the offense, not what the item cost new. Police affidavits frequently use retail or replacement cost, which inflates the grading. Depreciation, condition, and comparable-sale evidence are the standard tools for moving a case down a grade, and in felony cases that argument is often the whole defense.
Theft by unlawful taking under § 3921 alleges you took the property. Receiving stolen property under § 3925 alleges you possessed it knowing, or believing it probably had been, stolen. RSP is frequently the weaker charge because guilty knowledge cannot be proven from possession alone.
Returning property and paying restitution do not dismiss a criminal case by themselves, but they change the negotiation substantially. Combined with an ARD or county diversion application, they are usually the fastest route to a disposition with no conviction and an expungement at the end.
Yes. Retail theft under § 3929 has its own grading scale: a first offense under $150 is a summary offense, a first offense of $150 or more is an M2, a second offense is an M1 regardless of value, and a third or subsequent offense — or merchandise worth $1,000 or more, or a firearm or motor vehicle — is a third-degree felony.
It happens often in home-improvement, deposit, and unpaid-loan cases. Section 3922 requires an intentionally false impression at the time of the transaction — not a promise that turned out badly. Bank records showing money spent on materials, subcontractors, or partial performance directly contradict a criminal-intent theory.
Usually yes. First-offense theft, retail theft, receiving stolen property, and theft by deception are commonly ARD- or diversion-eligible in Dauphin, Cumberland, York, and Adams counties, especially where restitution is paid before the application. Completing ARD ends in dismissal and an expungement petition.
Yes, from the day it is filed and before any disposition. Because theft is a crime of dishonesty, it does more damage on employment and licensing screens than many charges carrying higher jail exposure — which is why an expungeable outcome matters more here than the sentence itself.

[1]18 Pa.C.S. § 3921 — Theft by unlawful taking or disposition — taking movable property of another with intent to deprive. Graded under § 3903.
[2]18 Pa.C.S. § 3922 — Theft by deception — obtaining property by creating or reinforcing a false impression. Graded under § 3903.
[3]18 Pa.C.S. § 3925 — Receiving stolen property — requires knowing, or believing it probably had been, stolen. Graded under § 3903.
[4]18 Pa.C.S. § 3926 — Theft of services — obtaining services by deception, threat, or diversion. Graded under § 3903.
[5]18 Pa.C.S. § 3929 — Retail theft — summary for a first offense under $150; M2 for a first offense of $150 or more; M1 for a second offense; F3 for a third or subsequent offense, or merchandise of $1,000 or more, or a firearm or motor vehicle.
[6]18 Pa.C.S. § 3903 — Grading of theft offenses — M3 under $50; M2 $50 to under $200; M1 $200 to under $2,000; F3 $2,000 or more; F2 firearm, motor vehicle, or $100,000 to under $500,000; F1 $500,000 or more.
[7]18 Pa.C.S. § 4101 — Forgery — F2 where the writing is money, a security, or a government instrument; F3 for a will, deed, contract, or commercial instrument; otherwise M1.
[8]18 Pa.C.S. § 4105 — Bad checks — summary under $200; M2 $200 to under $500; M1 $500 to under $75,000; F3 $75,000 or more.
[9]18 Pa.C.S. § 3502 — Burglary — F1 generally; F2 where the building is not adapted for overnight accommodation and no person is present.
[10]18 Pa.C.S. § 3701 — Robbery — F1 for serious bodily injury or the threat of a first- or second-degree felony; F2 for bodily injury inflicted or threatened; F3 for taking property from another by force however slight.
[11]18 Pa.C.S. § 1103 — Sentences for felonies — F1 up to 20 years, F2 up to 10, F3 up to 7.
[12]18 Pa.C.S. § 1104 — Sentences for misdemeanors — M1 up to 5, M2 up to 2, M3 up to 1.

Statutes are summarized for public reference. Confirm current text at palegis.us. This page is attorney advertising, not legal advice.

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Theft charges in Pennsylvania.

Every theft grade, statute, and maximum.

Theft by Unlawful Taking (§ 3921) & Grading (§ 3903)

Receiving Stolen Property, Deception & Services

Retail Theft (§ 3929)

Forgery & Bad Checks

One number, seven possible outcomes.

Theft — firearm, motor vehicle, or $100,000+ § 3903(a)

Theft, RSP, or deception — $2,000 or more

Theft — $200 to under $2,000

Theft — $50 to under $200 · retail theft first offense

Theft — under $50

Retail theft § 3929 first offense under $150 · disorderly conduct § 5503

Withdrawal, dismissal, or ARD

Side by side: what each rung costs.

Where burglary and robbery fit.

The theft defense hub.

Theft Lawyer (§ 3921)

Retail Theft Lawyer (§ 3929)

Receiving Stolen Property (§ 3925)

Theft by Deception (§ 3922)

How we defend theft and property crime cases.

Theft defense across Central Pennsylvania.

Frequently asked questions.

Sources & statutory citations

The sooner we talk, the more we can do.