Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 19 (2026)

Robbery by unarmed person; punishment; victim sixty or older; minimum sentence for repeat offenders

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 19. (a) Whoever, not being armed with a dangerous weapon, by force and violence, or by assault and putting in fear, robs, steals or takes from the person of a person sixty years or older, or from his immediate control, money or other property which may be the subject of larceny, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life or for any term of years.

Whoever, after having been convicted of said crime, commits a second or subsequent such crime, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than two years. Said sentence shall not be reduced until two years of said sentence have been served nor shall the person convicted be eligible for probation, parole, furlough, work release or receive any deduction from his sentence for good conduct until he shall have served two years of such sentence; provided, however, that the commissioner of correction may, on the recommendation of the warden, superintendent, or other person in charge of a correctional institution, or the administrator of a county correctional institution, grant to said offender a temporary release in the custody of an officer of such institution for the following purposes only: to attend the funeral of next of kin or spouse; to visit a critically ill close relative or spouse; or to obtain emergency medical services unavailable at said institution. The provisions of section eighty-seven of chapter two hundred and seventy-six relative to the power of the court to place certain offenders on probation shall not apply to any person 18 years of age or over charged with a violation of this subsection.

(b) Whoever, not being armed with a dangerous weapon, by force and violence, or by assault and putting in fear, robs, steals or takes from the person of another, or from his immediate control, money or other property which may be the subject of larceny, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life or for any term of years.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 112 cases (9 in the last 5 years), 1930–2026 · leading case: United States v. Paul Parnell, 818 F.3d 974 (9th Cir. 2016).

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United States v. Paul Parnell, 818 F.3d 974 (9th Cir. 2016). · cites it 4× “Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 265, § 19 (b).3 Under either prong, “the degree of force is 2 See Mass.”

United States v. Starks, Jr., 861 F.3d 306 (1st Cir. 2017). · cites it 2× “Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 19 (b). This statute contains several lists of different ways to commit the crime.”

Commonwealth v. Appleby, 402 N.E.2d 1051 (Mass. 1980). · cites it 2× “265, § 17, which distinguishes it from unarmed robbery, G.L.c. 265, § 19, is the objectively menacing behavior of the defendant with the instrumentality causing fear in his victims.”

Commonwealth v. Pittman, 514 N.E.2d 857 (Mass. App. Ct. 1987). · cites it 5× “To prove one of the crimes charged, unarmed robbery of a person over the age of sixty-five (G. L. c. 265, § 19[o]), the Commonwealth was bound to furnish evidence of the victim’s age.”

Commonwealth v. Matos, 126 N.E.3d 106 (Mass. App. Ct. 2019). · cites it 2× “*344 The defendant was convicted after a jury trial of unarmed robbery ( G. L. c. 265, § 19 [ b ] ) and assault and battery ( G.”

United States v. Pedro Santiesteban-Hernandez, 469 F.3d 376 (5th Cir. 2006). “§ 3-401(e) (West 2003); Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 265, § 19 (b) (West 2000); Miss.”

Commonwealth v. Watson, 447 N.E.2d 1182 (Mass. 1983). · cites it 2× “Because the maximum penalty for unarmed robbery is a sentence of imprisonment in the State prison for life (G.L.c. 265, § 19), a conviction of murder in the first degree could be based on the death of the victim in the course of the commission of the felony of unarmed robbery.”

Commonwealth v. Caracciola, 569 N.E.2d 774 (Mass. 1991). · cites it 2× “The court's argument seems to assume that the word, "force," in the robbery statutes, G.L.c. 265, § 19, and c. 277, § 39, is not limited to physical force.”

Scione v. Commonwealth Commonwealth v. Barnes, 114 N.E.3d 74 (Mass. 2019). · cites it 2× “265, § 18C (home invasion); G. L. c. 265, § 19 (unarmed robbery); G. L.”

Tevlin v. Spencer, 621 F.3d 59 (1st Cir. 2010). “265, § 1 ; (2) armed robbery, in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 17 ; (3) unarmed robbery on a victim sixty years of age or older, in violation of Mass.”

Lunn v. Commonwealth, 78 N.E.3d 1143 (Mass. 2017). “Second, on November 21, 2016, the trial court allowed the Commonwealth’s motion to amend the criminal complaint in the case, with Lunn’s consent, by reducing the charged offense from unarmed robbery (G.”

Commonwealth v. Howard, 436 N.E.2d 1211 (Mass. 1982). · cites it 2× “There is no question that the jury would have been warranted in finding the defendant guilty of unarmed robbery, and indeed the only relief the defendant seeks is that the armed robbery conviction be reversed and the case be remanded for sentencing on the lesser offense of…”

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— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 19(6) — 5 cases

Commonwealth v. Pittman, 514 N.E.2d 857 (Mass. App. Ct. 1987). “To prove one of the crimes charged, unarmed robbery of a person over the age of sixty-five (G. L. c. 265, § 19[o]), the Commonwealth was bound to furnish evidence of the victim’s age.”

Commonwealth v. Drewnowski, 694 N.E.2d 1301 (Mass. App. Ct. 1998).

Commonwealth v. Cruzado, 901 N.E.2d 1245 (Mass. App. Ct. 2009).

Commonwealth v. Muir, 999 N.E.2d 1098 (Mass. App. Ct. 2013).

Commonwealth v. Zwickert, 639 N.E.2d 1102 (Mass. App. Ct. 1994).

— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 19(A) — 1 case

Commonwealth v. Acevedo, 898 N.E.2d 864 (Mass. App. Ct. 2009).

— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 19(a) — 7 cases

Commonwealth v. Pittman, 514 N.E.2d 857 (Mass. App. Ct. 1987). “To prove one of the crimes charged, unarmed robbery of a person over the age of sixty-five (G. L. c. 265, § 19[o]), the Commonwealth was bound to furnish evidence of the victim’s age.”

Commonwealth v. Zangari, 677 N.E.2d 702 (Mass. App. Ct. 1997).

Commonwealth v. Gardner, 856 N.E.2d 896 (Mass. App. Ct. 2006).

Commonwealth v. Montalvo, 735 N.E.2d 391 (Mass. App. Ct. 2000).

Commonwealth v. Ferreira, 933 N.E.2d 685 (Mass. App. Ct. 2010).

— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 19(b) — 5 cases

Dudley v. Ryan, 62 F. Supp. 3d 193 (D. Mass. 2014).

Commonwealth v. Davis, 88 Mass. App. Ct. 143 (Mass. App. Ct. 2015).

Commonwealth v. Glanden, 728 N.E.2d 953 (Mass. App. Ct. 2000).

McCants v. Alves (D. Mass. 2021).

McCants v. Alves (D. Mass. 2022).

— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 19(h) — 1 case

Commonwealth v. Lopez, 87 Mass. App. Ct. 642 (Mass. App. Ct. 2015).

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