Trafficking in Stolen Property Lawyer in Tempe, AZ

Resale leaves records, and Tempe has set up several of them. The city requires its own annual license for pawnbrokers, with owner fingerprints for a Tempe Police background check, and a per-transaction charge on pawn transactions is collected through LeadsOnline and managed by the police department. In practice, a pawned item may appear in a searchable electronic record with a description and the seller's ID attached.

Bicycles and scooters are tracked too. Tempe Police partner with Project 529 Garage so owners can register them, which the department says improves the chance of returning stolen items. A registered bike that shows up in a listing or at a stop can be traced back to a theft report quickly, and theft and bicycle theft reports can be made online for incidents in Tempe that did not happen at ASU.

Several thefts linked by one buyer or storage unit can become a single case; Tempe Police list a Property Crimes Unit, without describing its work.

Trafficking is a felony, so the case is charged by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office in most instances and by the Arizona Attorney General's Office in some others, often where the conduct reached more than one county or a state agency investigated. We handle these matters whichever office brought the charge. After a felony arrest, Rule 4.1 sets a 24-hour limit for the first hearing, which for county jail bookings happens at Intake, Transfer and Release, 2670 S. 28th Dr., Phoenix. Superior Court downtown takes it from there (Central Court Building or South Court Tower); confirm the building on your current notice.

Not every stolen-item case is trafficking. Simply keeping property you knew or had reason to know was stolen can be charged as theft under A.R.S. § 13-1802(A)(5), which is graded by value. Below $1,000 from a Tempe Police report, that is generally a city misdemeanor at Tempe Municipal Court. Which statute the prosecutor chooses can change everything that follows.

What did you actually know? Recklessness requires awareness of the risk and a conscious choice to ignore it. A believable source, a fair price, a receipt or a seller who seemed to own the item can all cut against that.

Can the inference be explained? The § 13-2305 inferences apply only when the circumstances are not satisfactorily explained. An ordinary reason for the price or the timing can answer them.

Is it the same item? Serial numbers and photos have to match; a pawn record shows a sale, not its origin.

Was there intent to pass it on? Possessing an item without intent to sell or transfer it is not trafficking. The facts may fit a lesser theft charge instead.

First degree requires more. The State must show you organized, financed or directed both the theft and the trafficking, not just that you sold something.

Avoiding jail is not the same as avoiding a conviction. Any trafficking conviction is a felony, which makes a person a prohibited possessor in Arizona until the right is restored (A.R.S. § 13-3101(A)(7)(b)), with a federal ban as well (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)). After completing the sentence, a person may apply to have the conviction set aside (A.R.S. § 13-905(A)), and sealing under A.R.S. § 13-911 may later be possible. Noncitizens should speak with an immigration lawyer before any plea (8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)).