Organized retail theft

Organized retail theft. (a) Offense. - A person commits the offense of organized retail theft if the person does any of the following: (1) Conspires with another person to commit theft of retail property from retail establishments with the intent to sell, transfer, or possess that retail property for monetary or other gain. (2) Receives or possesses any retail property that has been taken or stolen in violation of subdivision (1) of this subsection while knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe the property is stolen. (3) Conspires with two or more other persons as an organizer, supervisor, financier, leader, or manager to engage for profit in a scheme or course of conduct to effectuate or intend to effectuate the transfer or sale of property stolen from a merchant in violation of this section. (4) Conspires with another person to acquire or retain possession of a gift card or gift card redemption information without the consent of the cardholder or card issuer. (5) Devises a scheme with one or more persons to obtain a gift card or gift card redemption information from a cardholder or card issuer by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises. (6) Conspires with another person to alter or tamper with a gift card or its packaging with intent to defraud another. (a1) Repealed by Session Laws 2022-30, s. 1, effective December 1, 2022. (a2) Punishments. - The following classifications apply to the offense of organized retail theft: (1) An offense when the gift card value or the retail property has a value exceeding one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) aggregated over a 90-day period is a Class H felony. (2) An offense when the gift card value or the retail property has a value exceeding twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) aggregated over a 90-day period is a Class G felony. (3) An offense when the gift card value or the retail property has a value exceeding fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) aggregated over a 90-day period is a Class F felony. (4) An offense when the gift card value or the retail property has a value exceeding one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) aggregated over a 90-day period is a Class C felony. (b) Forfeiture. - Except as otherwise provided in G.S. 14-86.1, any interest a person has acquired or maintained in violation of this section shall be subject to forfeiture pursuant to the procedures for forfeiture set out in G.S. 18B-504. (c) Multiple Thefts. - Thefts of gift cards, gift card redemption information, or retail property occurring in more than one county may be aggregated into an alleged violation of this section. Each county where a part of the charged offense occurs has concurrent venue as described in G.S. 15A-132. (2007-373, s. 3; 2008-187, s. 34(c); 2017-162, s. 2; 2022-30, s. 1; 2024-22, s. 2(b); 2025-71, s. 4(d).)