This Christmas season is the first in which the crime of stealing packages from the homes of Alabamians — a practice commonly known as “porch piracy” — is a felony offense punishable by stiff prison sentences and high fines, thanks to a new law passed by State Sen. April Weaver (R-Brierfield) during the 2025 regular session.
According to the provisions of Act 2025-428, stealing a package, letter or other item delivered by the U.S. Postal Service or other delivery service now results in:
- A Class A misdemeanor, the highest and most serious level of misdemeanor, punishable by a year in prison and a fine of up to $6,000 if taken from one to nine addresses. Receiving a known pirated or stolen package is also a Class A misdemeanor.
- A Class D felony punishable by one to five years in prison and a fine of up to $7,500 if taken from 10 to 29 addresses.
- A Class C felony punishable by one to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $7,500 if taken from 30 or more addresses.
- An upcharge to a Class C or Class B felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $30,000 if packages or mail are taken with the intent of stealing personal information or defrauding the addressee.
“The Grinch may have stolen Christmas in Whoville, but if he does it in Alabama, he’ll have plenty of time in state prison for his heart to grow three sizes,” Weaver said. “And if anyone accepts a stolen package from a porch pirate under our new law, both of them will get to wear a festive pair of shiny handcuffs during Christmas. With more and more homes and neighborhoods linked with video doorbells and other high-tech surveillance measures, even the boneheaded burglars from ‘Home Alone’ would think twice before stealing a package under Alabama’s tough new porch piracy law.”
A nationwide study released in early November noted that porch pirates stole more than 104 million packages in 2025, equating to about 250,000 packages stolen every day and representing $15 billion in estimated losses to consumers and $22 billion to retailers.
More than one in three Americans had a package stolen in 2025, and 75% had more than one package taken. The average value of a package stolen by a porch pirate is $143.
Most of the stolen packages - almost a third - were delivered by Amazon, with UPS, the U.S. Postal Service and FedEx following in descending order.
With the passage of Weaver’s bill, Alabama became the twelfth state in the nation to approve a law specifically targeting the porch piracy practice and joined Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas.
Alabama’s law combating porch piracy went into effect on October 1.
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