FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) – Would-be porch pirates could face much harsher penalties this holiday season.
In January, Louisville Sen. David Yates sponsored a bill updating Kentucky’s laws on stealing mail which hadn’t been changed since 1982.
“At the time we passed this some 40 years ago, we did not consider the type of commerce that we have today. There wasn’t the Amazon, the FedEx and all the other delivery courier services. So, they’re treated different under the law today,” said Sen. Yates in January.
Now, theft from all delivery services in addition to the U.S. Postal Service can be charged as a felony.
Sen. Yates said he sponsored the bill because the problem had gotten so bad, there were reports of organized crime rings stealing packages.
Camille Hantla contributed to this story.