UCMJ Article 121 Larceny vs Article 122 Robbery: Stealth vs Force in Taking Property

A wallet lifted from an unattended locker is larceny under Article 121. The same wallet taken from its owner by force, violence, or by putting the owner in fear is robbery under Article 122. The property can be identical; what changes the charge is how it left the owner, and whether a person was present to be overpowered or frightened. Larceny does not require stealth: it also covers obtaining property by false pretense and withholding property already held, the offense formerly called embezzlement (MCM, Part IV, ¶ 64.c(1)(a)).

The statutory text

Article 121 covers three ways of acquiring someone else’s property:

Any person subject to this chapter who wrongfully takes, obtains, or withholds, by any means, from the possession of the owner or of any other person any money, personal property, or article of value of any kind … with intent permanently to deprive or defraud another person of the use and benefit of property or to appropriate it to his own use or the use of any person other than the owner, steals that property and is guilty of larceny

Source: 10 U.S.C. § 921(a)(1) (Article 121).

Article 122 adds a victim and a method:

Any person subject to this chapter who takes anything of value from the person or in the presence of another, against his will, by means of force or violence or fear of immediate or future injury to his person or property or to the person or property of a relative or member of his family or of anyone in his company at the time of the robbery, is guilty of robbery

Source: 10 U.S.C. § 922 (Article 122).

Article 121 also contains wrongful appropriation, the same taking with intent to deprive only temporarily (§ 921(a)(2)).

Three differences that decide the charge

Presence of a person. Robbery requires that the property be taken “from the person or in the presence of another.” Larceny has no such requirement. The Manual for Courts-Martial reads “presence” broadly: property need not be within any set distance of the victim. Its example is intruders who force a homeowner by threats to reveal where valuables are hidden in another room, tie the owner up, and then take the valuables. That is robbery (MCM, Part IV, ¶ 67.c(1)).

Against the victim’s will, by force or fear. Robbery requires force, violence, or fear. The Manual sets a low bar for force: “Any amount of force is enough to constitute robbery if the force overcomes the actual resistance of the person robbed, puts the person in such a position that no resistance is made, or suffices to overcome the resistance offered by a chain or other fastening” (¶ 67.c(2)). Fear requires no actual force or violence, but it does require a demonstration of force or menace that places the victim in enough fear to warrant making no resistance; the fear must be “a reasonable apprehension of present or future injury,” and the taking must happen while that apprehension exists (¶ 67.c(3)).

Three kinds of larceny in one article. Larceny under Article 121 includes the common law taking, obtaining by false pretense, and embezzlement, which the Manual describes as a wrongful withholding with intent to appropriate permanently (¶ 64.c(1)(a)). A service member who keeps unit funds entrusted to them, intending to keep them permanently, commits larceny by withholding. No version of that conduct is robbery, because no one is overpowered or frightened.

Where snatching falls

The Manual addresses snatching directly. A purse or phone “merely snatched from the hand of another,” or a pocket “picked by stealth,” is not robbery when no other force is used and the owner is not put in fear (¶ 67.c(2)). Once resistance is overcome, the line is crossed. The Manual’s own examples of sufficient violence:

• an earring torn from a person’s ear;
• a pickpocket’s confederate jostling the victim to divert attention, even though the victim never realizes what happened;
• a person knocked unconscious and then searched;
• a guard who handcuffs a prisoner on a pretext and then takes the prisoner’s property.

For example, a grab that tears a bag strap from a shoulder while the owner holds on overcomes resistance, which is the Manual’s test for sufficient violence. A grab that lifts a phone off a café table before the owner notices uses no force against the owner and puts no one in fear; under the same explanation it falls on the larceny side. How much force a particular grab used, and whether a threat created a reasonable apprehension of injury, are decided on the evidence at trial.

Value and the kind of property

Both offenses require property of some value, and the value matters for larceny sentencing. Robbery’s maximum depends on the method instead: a dangerous weapon raises it. Larceny’s maximum depends on value and on whether the property is military property or one of the listed items (motor vehicle, aircraft, vessel, firearm, explosive). The Manual adds an element for military property when it is charged (¶ 64.b(1)(e)).

Robbery of several people at the same time and place is a separate offense for each victim, and each robbery should be alleged in a separate specification (¶ 67.c(4)). How value is proved in a given case, whether larceny is available as a lesser offense on a robbery charge, and how several specifications from one incident are treated at sentencing are questions for counsel and the military judge.

Maximum punishments

Neither offense carries life confinement. The highest robbery maximum is 15 years, and the highest larceny maximum is 10 years. These figures are ceilings; where every finding of guilty is for an offense committed after December 27, 2023, the sentence in a general or special court-martial is set by the military judge rather than the members, except in capital cases (10 U.S.C. § 853(b)(1)).

Sources

• 10 U.S.C. § 921, larceny and wrongful appropriation (Article 121)
• 10 U.S.C. § 922, robbery (Article 122)
• 10 U.S.C. § 853, findings and sentencing (Article 53)
• Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 edition), Part IV, ¶ 64 (larceny) and ¶ 67 (robbery).

This page describes Articles 121 and 122 and the Manual’s explanation of them; it is general legal information, not advice about any case. This page reflects the UCMJ as amended through Public Law 119-60 (December 18, 2025) and the Manual for Courts-Martial (2024 edition) as amended by Executive Order 14130.