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Committee Substitute House Bill 2367 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted

WEST virginia legislature

2017 regular session

Committee Substitute

for

House Bill 2367

By Delegates R. Miller, Marcum, Eldridge, Rodigheiro, Phillips, Sobonya, Lovejoy and Hicks

[Originating in the Committee on Judiciary]

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated §61-3F-1, §61-3F-2 and §61-3F-3, all relating to establishing a criminal offense of organized retail crime; defining terms; making it unlawful for a person to knowingly commit an organized retail crime; making it unlawful for a person to knowingly organize, supervise, finance, conspire, receive retail goods from, or otherwise manage or assist another person in committing an organized retail crime; establishing criminal penalties; providing for the aggregation of counts and sum of property value; providing for prosecution in any county in which a retail crime occurred; allowing for inference by trier of fact that a particular scheme or course of conduct was undertaken for profit; and providing for seizure and forfeiture of cash, assets or other property derived in part or total from any proceeds from participating in an organized retail crime.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:


That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated §61-3F-1, §61-3F-2 and §61-3F-3, all to read as follows:

ARTICLE 3F. ORGANIZED RETAIL CRIME.

§61-3F-1.  Definitions.


For the purpose of this article:

(1) “Organized retail crime” means the commission of two or more retail crimes, either alone or with any person or persons, as part of an organized scheme within a ninety-day period, and the aggregate value of the retail price of the merchandise involved in the retail crimes exceeds $1,500.

(2) “Organized scheme” means a plan, scheme, or course of conduct between two or more individuals to engage in a retail crime.

(3) “Retail crime” means the theft of retail merchandise from a retail establishment with the intent or purpose of reselling, trading, bartering, distributing, or otherwise reentering the retail merchandise in commerce, including the transfer of the stolen retail merchandise to another retail merchant or to any other person personally, through the mail, or through any electronic medium, including the internet, in exchange for anything of value.

(4) "Retail establishment" means any business, whether a sole proprietorship, corporation, partnership, or otherwise, which holds or stores articles, products, commodities, items, or components for sale to the public or to other retail establishments.

(5) "Retail merchandise" means any article, product, commodity, item, or component intended to be sold to the public or to other retail establishments.

(6) "Retail price" means the retail value of an item offered for sale by a retail establishment.

(7) "Theft" means to take possession of, carry away, transfer, conceal or cause to be carried away the retail merchandise of a retail establishment with the intent to deprive the retail establishment of the ownership thereof.

(8) “Value” means the price of the retail merchandise as stated, posted, or advertised by the affected retail establishment, including applicable sales tax.

§61-3F-2.  Organized retail crime.


(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly:

(1) Commit an organized retail crime, or

(2) Organize, supervise, finance, conspire, receive retail goods from, or otherwise manage or assist another person in committing an organized retail crime;

(b) A person who violates the provisions of subsection (a) of this section and the aggregate value of the retail price of merchandise involved in the organized retail crime is not more than $2,500, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $3,000 or confined in jail for not more than one year, or both fined and confined.

(c) A person who violates the provisions of subsection (a) of this section and the aggregate value of the retail price of merchandise involved in the organized retail crime is not less than $2,500 nor more than $10,000, is guilty of a felony, and upon conviction, shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned in a state correctional facility not less than one year nor more than five years, or both fined and imprisoned.

(d) A person who violates the provisions of subsection (a) of this section and the aggregate value of the retail price of merchandise involved in the organized retail crime is more than $10,000, is guilty of a felony, and upon conviction, shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned in a state correctional facility not less than three years nor more than fifteen years, or both fined and imprisoned.

§61-3F-3. General provisions

(a) For purposes of this article, a series of retail crimes from one or more mercantile establishments over a period of ninety days as part of an organized retail crime may be aggregated in one count and the sum of the value of all the property shall be the value considered in determining the amount of the organized retail crime.

(b) A violation of this article occurring in one or more counties may be prosecuted in any county in which one of the retail crimes occurred.

(c) In any prosecution for a violation under this article, it shall not be necessary for the state to prove that any intended profit was actually realized. The trier of fact may infer that a particular scheme or course of conduct was undertaken for profit from all of the attending circumstances.

(d) Forfeiture- (1) Any interest a person has acquired or maintained in any cash, asset or other property of value in any form, derived in part or total from any proceeds from participating in an organized retail crime, may be seized and forfeited consistent with the procedures in the West Virginia Contraband Forfeiture Act, as provided in article seven, chapter sixty-a of this code.

(2) Notwithstanding subdivision (1) of this subsection, the court, as part of sentencing for a violation under this article, may direct the forfeiture to the state of any cash, asset or other property of value in any form, derived in part or total from any proceeds from participating in the organized retail crime.

 

 

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish a new crime of organized retail crime, establishing penalties; and providing for forfeiture of property or other asset derived from organized retail crime.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.

 

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