How does the fencing law work?

JoeyInCali

JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
Let's say you buy stuff off the Craiglist .
Then you learn that stuff was stolen property .
And you find the rightful owner of that property.
He can document it and has filed lost item with the post office.

What are you liable or obligated to do ?
If any.
 
I can only guess. I’d assume they get their property back and you’re at a loss unless you can identify and sue the perpetrator for restitution. (Uneducated guess)


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Just curious but have you contacted the postal inspector's office? They are the federal police agency for all things related to the post office and generally take a dim view of postal fraud and have the teeth to do something.
 
Fencing Law

I have a friend who was caught with possession of stolen firearms. He refused to tell the police where he got them from and as a result spent one year in prison. You need to give the property back to the rightful owner. Turn in the person you bought it from (if you know) or take the loss and move on.
 
spktur said:
Just curious but have you contacted the postal inspector's office? They are the federal police agency for all things related to the post office and generally take a dim view of postal fraud and have the teeth to do something.
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No, I have not .
Thanks for the tip.
 
TWOFORPOOL said:
I have a friend who was caught with possession of stolen firearms. He refused to tell the police where he got them from and as a result spent one year in prison. You need to give the property back to the rightful owner. Turn in the person you bought it from (if you know) or take the loss and move on.
Click to expand...

That sounds rightful.
Thanks.
 
I'd give it back with a smile and feel good that their stolen cue had been returned. Getting screwed out of money is a part of life. Sometimes those lessons are cheap and sometimes they're expensive.
 
If you are aware property is stolen and you fail to return it you are subject to criminal penalties. In NJ it's called "receiving stolen property" which is different from the actual theft. By purposefully depriving the rightful owner of the possession of their stuff you commit a crime.

A person can unknowingly buy a stolen item and not be charged if they return it once they become aware it was stolen, but you can't buy a $2500 cue for $25 and claim ignorance either.

So the buyer can be the one taking the loss with the only recourse being to sue the seller/criminal for damages.
 
Whoops, OK, not the same "fencing" subject I thought this thread was going to be about.
I was thinking maybe the BCA had some rules about shooting Pool with a foil or that Predator was now making a Carbon-fiber fencing foil, LOL

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Seriously though, any crime involving anything that went through the USPS is unbelievably draconian in a legal consequences sense (rightfully so) and usually something few people ever think about. John Grisham's novel "The Firm" is a perfect example. Unless you're a career criminal with at least 1 good criminal attorney on retainer, the high road is your only viable option...the only ethical option as well.
 
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I believe you would need to file a police report in the area the person lives and provide all information to the police department so they can conduct an investigation.
 
I just watched a video on YouTube about an EBay seller that this happened to.
He bought a dozen beats headphones from a guy on Craigslist (the guy's story was that he had won a gift card at a raffle and figured buying beats was the best way to monetize it) After he sold all but 1 pair on Ebay he put the last one on his local Craigslist. When he went to meet the seller it was the police, claiming he had stolen them. After he was able to prove (via the text messages back and forth) that he was unaware they were stolen, the police confiscated the last pair, which had been stolen in a smash and grab, but told him the other pairs he had already sold were not a problem, and he did not have to surrender the money he had made.
This may be a different circumstance because they were stolen from a business, and were probably covered by insurance of some sort.
 
There is hope in this world.
One man did the right thing .
He took care of the person who cues and a case.
 
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