§ Article 122a : Receiving Stolen Property

Article 122a of the UCMJ (10 U.S.C. § 922a) punishes wrongfully receiving, buying, or concealing stolen property, knowing the property to be stolen.

Who It Applies To

Any person subject to the UCMJ who wrongfully receives, buys, or conceals stolen property, knowing the property to be stolen.

What It Covers

1. The accused wrongfully received, bought, or concealed certain property of some value.
2. The property belonged to another person.
3. The property had been stolen.
4. The accused knew that the property had been stolen.

Key rules

• The actual thief is not criminally liable for receiving the property stolen. A principal to the larceny who was not the actual thief may be found guilty of knowingly receiving the property, but not of both the larceny and the receiving.
• Actual knowledge that the property was stolen is required, and may be proved by circumstantial evidence.
• Receiving stolen property is wrongful if it is without justification or excuse. Under the Manual, receiving it to return it to its owner, or seizing it as evidence in law enforcement, is not wrongful.

Maximum Punishment

Maximum authorized punishment.

• $1,000 or less: bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 1 year.
• More than $1,000: dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 3 years.

Sentencing parameters. $1,000 or less, Category 1 (0–12 months). More than $1,000, Category 2 (1–36 months).

The newer sentencing rules apply, subject to the capital-case rules, when the accused is convicted only of offenses committed after 27 December 2023. See How UCMJ Sentencing Rules Apply. The maximum authorized punishment and the applicable sentencing framework do not predict the sentence in a particular case.

Related and Distinguished

Article 122a addresses a person who knowingly receives, buys, or conceals property that someone else stole. The theft itself is addressed by Article 121, and helping an offender avoid apprehension or punishment by Article 78.

What the Provision Does

Article 122a applies to a person who, knowing property to be stolen, wrongfully receives, buys, or conceals it, separately from the theft itself. The maximum confinement is 1 year, or 3 years when the property is valued above $1,000.

History

Article 122a was added to the UCMJ by the Military Justice Act of 2016 (Pub. L. 114-328, § 5435), effective January 1, 2019. Before then, knowingly receiving stolen property was charged as an enumerated offense under Article 134.

Sources

• 10 U.S.C. § 922a (Article 122a, UCMJ)
• Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, 2024 edition, Part IV, ¶ 68
• Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Appendix 12B and Appendix 12C