JERSEY CITY (1010 WINS) -- Rep. Josh Gottheimer, of New Jersey, said he's reintroducing a 2022 bill, the Porch Pirates Act, that would expand penalties for theft of packages from USPS to commercial carriers like UPS, FedEx and Amazon.
"It makes stealing a package delivered by UPS, Amazon, FedEx, DHL a federal crime," Gottheimer said.
Americans are expected to make purchases in record numbers on Cyber Monday.
But Gottheimer says he hears from many constituents who say their packages never arrive, because they're scooped up by thieves "right off their front steps."
Last year, about 104 million packages were stolen in the U.S. Every day in NYC, upwards of 100,000 are stolen or go missing.
“There is a little Grinch that tears through the neighborhoods and steals away Christmas presents and essentials from parents and grandparents,” Gottheimer said.
Currently, it's only a federal offense to steal U.S. Postal Service packages, but the legislation Gottheimer is reintroducing would expand the protection to commercial carriers, which make up a large portion of deliveries.
Violators could face a $250,000 fine and five years in prison.
"We’re also giving the FBI and DOJ a new task force to investigate this rash of theft," Gottheimer said. "So allowing more resources to go towards these crimes."
Additionally, the bill would refund people whose packages are stolen.
"We can’t leave families to pay the price of all this package theft," he said.