Motor Vehicle and Aircraft Theft—Prosecution Policy

Except as precluded by

JM 9-61.113

, individual interstate and foreign motor vehicle theft cases involving exceptional circumstances may be considered for Federal prosecution if the local or State authorities are justifiably unable to institute a successful prosecution. Because of various other Federal prosecutive priorities, only a portion of the individual theft cases involving exceptional circumstances will qualify for Federal prosecution. In determining whether "exceptional circumstances" justifying Federal prosecution are present, the following examples may be considered illustrative but not exhaustive:

The stolen vehicle is used in the commission of a separate felony for which punishment in the local courts would be expected to be less than for the Dyer Act offense;

The stolen vehicle is demolished, sold, transported or exported to a foreign country, heavily stripped or grossly misused;

An individual steals more than one vehicle in such a manner as to form a pattern of conduct; and

The stolen vehicle is a heavy commercial vehicle or construction or farming equipment, such as a tractor truck, a farm tractor or a bulldozer.

In addition to the above exceptional circumstances, because of an aircraft's normally large monetary value and its ability to be used to commit other serious Federal criminal offenses, such as drug smuggling, each interstate or foreign transportation of a stolen aircraft should be judged for possible Federal prosecution based on its own individual prosecutive merits.

[cited in

JM 9-61.114

]