Receiving Stolen Property in Minnesota (Minn. Stat. § 609.53)

What the state has to prove

To convict you of receiving stolen property, the prosecution must prove:

• You received, possessed, transferred, bought, or concealed property;
• The property was in fact stolen (or otherwise obtained through theft or robbery); and
• You knew or had reason to know the property was stolen.

That third element — knowledge — is the heart of these cases. It is not a crime to possess stolen property if you genuinely did not know and had no reason to know it was stolen. Buying a used item at a fair price from someone who appeared to own it is very different from buying a clearly valuable item for almost nothing under suspicious circumstances.

How the penalties scale

Because § 609.53 ties the penalty to the theft statute, the grading follows the value of the property:

• Low-value property — misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor.
• Higher values — felony, with the maximum sentence and fine rising as the value increases (the same value thresholds that apply to theft).
• Certain property types (like firearms) can carry enhanced treatment.

So the value determination — which is sometimes disputed — can directly change the charge level.

Defenses to receiving stolen property

• Lack of knowledge. The central defense — that you did not know and had no reason to know the property was stolen. The circumstances of how you got it (price, source, condition) are key.
• The property wasn’t actually stolen, or the state can’t prove it was.
• No possession or control. Whether you actually possessed or controlled the property, as opposed to mere proximity to it (for example, being near an item owned or controlled by someone else).
• Claim of right / honest belief that the property was yours or lawfully obtained.
• Valuation. Disputing the value to reduce the offense level.
• Unlawful search. If the property was found through an unlawful search, the evidence may be subject to suppression.

Receiving vs. theft

Receiving stolen property is a separate offense from theft itself — it targets the person who ends up with stolen goods rather than the person who took them. A person generally cannot be convicted of both stealing and receiving the same property, but which charge applies can matter, and the knowledge element makes receiving cases distinct. If you are accused of receiving property someone else allegedly stole, the case against you often depends entirely on what you knew.