10 U.S.C. § 921
Section 921 · Art. 121. Larceny and wrongful appropriation
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 1,175 court decisions — leading case Middendorf v. Henry (1976)
Most recently applied in Jose Cossio, Jr. v. Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals (February 2025)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 10 U.S.C. § 934 · 10 U.S.C. § 866 · 10 U.S.C. § 831
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) 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—
(1) 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; or
(2) with intent temporarily 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, is guilty of wrongful appropriation.
(b) Any person found guilty of larceny or wrongful appropriation shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
921(b) 50:715(a).50:715(b). May 5, 1950, ch. 169, §1 (Art. 121), 64 Stat. 140. In subsection (a), the words “whatever” and “true” are omitted as surplusage. The word “it” is substituted for the words “the same” in clauses (1) and (2).
Cross References
Article to be explained, see section 937 of this title.
Burglary when intending to commit offense punishable under this section, see section 929 of this title.
Embezzlement and theft, Federal offenses, see section 641 et seq. of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure.
Statute of limitations, see section 843 of this title.