Assembly Bill 272 created the new Nevada crime of mail theft, defined as stealing another person’s mail. Mail theft is a category D felony carrying one to four years in prison, up to $5,000 in fines, and restitution.

The statute reads:

1. A person commits the crime of mail theft if the person:

(a) Knowingly, willfully and with the intent to deprive, injure, damage or defraud another: (1) Takes, destroys, hides or embezzles mail; or (2) Obtains any mail by fraud or deception;

(b) Buys, receives, conceals or possesses: (1) Mail and knows or reasonably should know that the mail was unlawfully taken or obtained; (2) Any key suited to any lock adopted by the United States Postal Service that provides access to any mail receptacle in any neighborhood or apartment panel used for the purpose of centralized mail; or (3) A counterfeit device or key designed to provide access to  a lock described in subparagraph (2); or

(c) Knowingly, willfully and with the intent to steal any mail inside, damages, opens, tears down, takes or destroys any mail receptacle.

2. A person who violates any provision of subsection 1 is guilty of a category D felony and shall be punished as provided in NRS 193.130. In addition to any other penalty, the court shall order the person to pay restitution.

3. As used in this section:

(a) “Mail” means any letter, postal card, parcel, package, bag or other material, along with its contents, that:  (1) Has postage affixed by the postal customer or postal service; (2) Has been accepted for delivery by the postal service; (3) The postal customer leaves for collection by the postal  service; or (4) The postal service delivers to the postal customer.

(b) “Mail receptacle” means a mailbox, post office box, rural
box, letter box, lock drawer or any place or area intended or used by postal customers or a postal service for the collection, deposit or delivery of mail.

(c) “Postal service” means the United States Postal Service or a private common mail carrier.

In this article, our Las Vegas criminal defense attorneys discuss:

• 1. What is mail theft in Nevada?
• 2. What are the penalties?
• 3. How do I fight the charges?
• 4. When can the record be sealed?
• 5. Is federal law different?

1. What is mail theft in Nevada?

You can be charged with mail theft in Nevada for either of the following three actions:

1. Knowingly stealing or possessing someone else’s mail;
2. Possessing a centralized mail key; or
3. Knowingly opening or damaging a mail receptacle with the intent to steal the mail inside.¹

2. What are the penalties?

Mail theft in Nevada is a category D felony carrying:

• 1 to 4 years in Nevada State Prison,
• up to $5,000 (at the judge’s discretion), and
• restitution.²

3. How do I fight the charges?

The most common defense to Nevada mail theft charges is that you took someone else’s mail by accident. This is especially common in communal mail rooms, or sometimes the postal service worker accidentally delivers you the wrong mail.

Another potential defense is that you are being falsely accused. Perhaps the person claiming their mail was stolen is a disgruntled neighbor trying to get you into trouble out of anger or revenge.

Finally, we may be able to show that the police found the stolen mail through an unlawful search and seizure. In these cases, we can ask the judge to suppress the unlawfully-obtained evidence – this may leave the D.A. with too weak a case to prosecute.

4. When can the record be sealed?

Mail theft convictions in Nevada can be seal from your criminal record five years after the case ends. Though if the charge gets dismissed, you can pursue a record seal right away.³

5. Is federal law different?

Yes. Mail theft is a federal crime as well and carries harsher penalties than under Nevada law:

• up to 5 years in federal prison, and/or
• up to $250,000 in fines.⁴

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