Erin Lanahan A huge holiday disappointment unfolds when you order all your presents for your partner, parents, dogs, friends, and grandma, get the notification it was delivered, and come home to see no boxes, envelopes, or bags outside your door. Now, porch pirates could be receiving more than coal under the tree during future holiday seasons. A New Jersey Congressman is working to crack down on porch piracy by making it a federal crime, increasing the punishment for thieves across the country. Here’s what we know about the punishment for stealing packages right now and what the possible Porch Pirates Act entails.
Quick Facts On Porch Piracy
The ease of online shopping comes with the stress of shipping and delivery. As of November 2025, 104 million total packages have been stolen in the United States, and almost half of all Americans have been victims of a porch pirate. In 2024, shoppers lost nearly $16 billion in stolen goods that they had already paid for. New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer’s team looked at a three-month period in 2024 and found more than 190,000 New Jersey residents had a package stolen from them. Not the kind of holiday surprise you want to unwrap.
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Back in 2020, the New Jersey State Assembly amended current theft laws to address porch piracy. Called the Defense Against Porch Pirates Act, the bill made stealing packages a felony offense. Right now, that offense can carry a potential three to five-year prison term and up to a $15,000 fine.
The Porch Pirates Act
Congressman Gottheimer announced bipartisan legislation in Ridgewood, NJ, on Cyber Monday, December 1, proposing serious punishments for stealing packages. The goal of the Porch Pirates Act is to combat package theft not just in New Jersey, but across the country. It would:
- Make stealing a package delivered by a private carrier (think UPS, Amazon, FedEx, etc.) a federal crime. Right now, that protection only applies to mail and packages delivered by the United States Postal Service.
- Apply federal penalties, such as fines and imprisonment up to three, five, or ten years. Penalties will depend on the value, method, and circumstance of theft.
- Give the FBI, Department of Justice, and federal task forces full authority to investigate any porch piracy theft of private carrier packages.
- Create a uniform national baseline, clarifying existing criminal statutes, including delivered packages, combating porch piracy, and setting standard penalties without preempting individual state laws.
- Extend interstate commerce protection to the final delivery point, including all the way to a front porch, rather than only protecting packages in transit.
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“There’s a literal Grinch that tears through neighborhoods, stealing away Christmas presents and essentials from grandparents and children alike — right off their own front porch when a package arrives,” says Congressman Gottheimer. “We can’t let the holidays be snatched away from us in broad daylight by a bunch of porch pirates. We will fight to ensure gifts stay right where they belong: with the families who work hard to buy them, with the loved ones they thought of when they paid for them, and within the homes celebrating their faith, love, and family together this holiday season. That is what our Jersey Values are about: protecting the people we cherish most.”
On top of his fight against those porch Grinches, Gottheimer is pushing for retailers to figure out why almost 25% of families don’t receive refunds for stolen packages and to take steps to fix that process.
The congressman was joined by Bergen County Sheriff Anthony Cureton, who added, “Porch pirates thrive on opportunity, and I’m asking our residents to help take that opportunity away, especially during the delivery season. Stay vigilant, use secure delivery options, and report any suspicious activity to keep our community safe.”
The bill still needs to be passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, then by the President, before becoming a law.
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