The penalty for breaking and entering runs from a few months in county jail and a fine under $1,000 for a misdemeanor to several years in state prison and fines reaching $10,000 or more for a felony. Where a given case lands depends on three things more than anything else: whether the building was a home, whether anyone was inside, and whether the person was armed. A clean record pulls the sentence down. Prior convictions, a weapon, or an occupied dwelling pull it up fast.
Misdemeanor Penalties
When no aggravating factors are present, breaking and entering is typically charged as a misdemeanor. The usual consequences:
- Up to one year in county jail, with first-time offenders often serving less.
- Fines generally under $1,000, though the cap varies by state.
- Probation, supervised or unsupervised, either in place of jail or alongside it.
- Community service hours, often paired with probation.
A misdemeanor conviction still produces a criminal record, and the record carries weight long after the sentence is served. More on that below.
Felony Penalties and Degrees
Aggravating factors turn the charge into a felony, and the penalty jumps sharply:
- One year or more in state prison. Sentences of two to six years are common for first-degree offenses involving occupied homes.
- Fines that can reach $10,000 or more depending on the jurisdiction and the degree of the offense.
- Felony probation with stricter supervision, which can include electronic monitoring, mandatory drug testing, or enrollment in behavioral programs.
Many states divide the offense into degrees. First-degree charges typically involve occupied dwellings or the use of a weapon. Second-degree charges cover commercial buildings and unoccupied structures. The degree controls the sentencing range directly, so the gap between a second-degree and first-degree conviction can be the difference between probation and years in prison.
What Pushes the Sentence Up
A handful of factors reliably move a breaking and entering case toward the heavier end of the range, and several of them can elevate a misdemeanor to a felony on their own.
- Type of structure. A private home is treated far more seriously than a commercial building, shed, or vehicle. Residential break-ins almost always draw felony charges.
- Occupancy. If people were inside when the entry happened, especially if the defendant knew it, penalties climb. This is one of the most reliable triggers for a first-degree charge.
- Time of day. Nighttime entries are punished more harshly in many jurisdictions, a holdover from common law that still appears in modern statutes.
- Weapons. Being armed during the entry, even without using the weapon, is a major aggravator that raises both the charge and the sentence.
- Criminal history. Repeat offenders face steeper sentences. Prior property and violent-crime convictions carry particular weight.
One point worth clearing up: breaking and entering is not the same as burglary. Burglary requires proof that the person entered intending to commit a crime inside. Breaking and entering, on its own, requires only the unauthorized entry. Prosecutors who can prove the entry but not the intent will often charge breaking and entering as a fallback. Burglary carries significantly harsher penalties where it applies, and the two are frequently filed together.
What Can Bring the Sentence Down
Mitigating factors don’t erase the charge, but they give a judge reason to go lighter. A clean record is the most straightforward of them. Some jurisdictions offer diversion programs that can end in dismissal once the defendant completes the requirements. Judges also weigh the defendant’s age, whether addiction or mental health issues contributed to the offense, and whether the person has taken real steps toward rehabilitation. Paying restitution to the victim before sentencing helps. The specific factors a court will credit vary by state.
Defenses matter here too, because even defenses that don’t win outright create leverage in plea negotiations. The strongest ones attack what the prosecution must prove:
- Consent. If the defendant had permission to enter, or a reasonable belief that they did, there is no crime.
- Lack of force. Some states require at least minimal force to establish the “breaking” element. Walking through an open door may not qualify.
- Necessity. Breaking into a building to escape an immediate threat, such as a violent attacker or a natural disaster, can be a defense when entry was the only reasonable option.
- Lack of intent. Severe intoxication or a mental health condition that prevented the defendant from understanding the act can negate the mental element. Courts apply this narrowly.
- Mistaken identity. A straightforward actual-innocence defense. The prosecution must prove the defendant was the person who entered.
Consent disputes usually come down to credibility. Necessity claims require genuinely extreme circumstances. Intoxication defenses face skepticism. None of these is a guaranteed win, but any of them can shift what a prosecutor is willing to offer.
Restitution and Other Money Owed
A sentence almost always includes financial obligations on top of any fine. Restitution is the biggest piece: the court orders the defendant to reimburse the victim for measurable financial losses caused by the crime. For breaking and entering, that typically covers repairing a broken door or window, replacing stolen property, and related costs like emergency locksmith services. Restitution covers only documented out-of-pocket losses. It does not compensate for emotional distress or inconvenience.
Federal law requires restitution for property offenses in federal cases, and most states have similar mandatory restitution statutes for property crimes.
Court costs and processing fees add to the total, typically running from $50 to $250 but sometimes higher. Between fines, restitution, court costs, and probation supervision fees, the full financial hit from a conviction often exceeds what defendants expect going in.
Charges Prosecutors Often Add On
Breaking and entering rarely stands alone on a charging document. The combined exposure from stacked charges can be far worse than any single count.
Criminal Trespass
Trespass covers entering or remaining on property without permission, with no force required. It is usually a misdemeanor and carries lighter penalties. Prosecutors sometimes use it as a lesser included charge when the “breaking” element is weak.
Vandalism and Property Destruction
When the entry damaged property, a vandalism or malicious destruction charge often follows. Smashing a window, prying a door frame, or breaking a lock can each support a separate count. Those penalties stack on top of the breaking and entering sentence.
Possession of Burglary Tools
Being caught near a building with pry bars, lock picks, or similar tools can produce a separate charge. The prosecution has to prove not just possession but intent to use the tools for a crime. A crowbar in a toolbox is not illegal. A crowbar outside a closed jewelry store at 3 a.m. is a different conversation. Courts look at the totality of the circumstances.
Consequences After the Sentence
The sentence itself is often not the worst of it. A conviction, particularly a felony, creates consequences that last for years or decades.
Employment
Most employers run background checks, and a property-crime conviction is a flag for any job involving access to buildings, inventory, or money. Certain professional licenses become unavailable with a felony on the record. “Ban the box” laws in some states delay when an employer can ask about criminal history, but the record still surfaces.
Housing
Landlords and public housing agencies routinely deny applicants with criminal records. A breaking and entering conviction is especially damaging because it signals property crime. The result is a cycle: the conviction makes stable housing harder to find, and housing instability makes everything else about reentry harder.
Firearms
A felony conviction triggers a federal ban on possessing firearms or ammunition. Under federal law, anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment is prohibited from possessing a firearm.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts The prohibition is lifetime unless the conviction is expunged or the person receives a pardon.
Immigration
For non-citizens, the stakes are higher still. Under federal immigration law, a burglary offense carrying a sentence of one year or more is classified as an aggravated felony, which is a ground for deportation and makes the person permanently inadmissible to the United States.2Congress.gov. Immigration Consequences of Criminal Activity Lesser charges can qualify as crimes involving moral turpitude, which trigger separate removal grounds. A non-citizen facing any breaking and entering charge should talk to an immigration attorney before accepting a plea, because a deal that looks reasonable in criminal court can be irreversible on the immigration side.
Voting
A felony conviction results in the loss of voting rights in most states. Restoration rules vary. Some states automatically restore the right after the sentence is complete. Others require a waiting period, a petition, or a governor’s pardon.
Clearing the Record Later
Depending on the state and the specifics of the case, a breaking and entering record may eventually be expunged or sealed. The two options work differently.
Expungement deletes the record. Arrest records, court proceedings, and the conviction itself are destroyed or redacted. Eligibility is narrow. Most states limit expungement to cases where charges were dropped, the person was acquitted, or they completed a pretrial diversion program. Convictions, especially felony convictions, are rarely eligible for full expungement.
Sealing, sometimes called nondisclosure, hides the record from public view. Standard employer and landlord background checks won’t see it, but law enforcement and certain government agencies still can. Sealing is more widely available for convictions than expungement is, but it typically requires a waiting period after the sentence is complete, generally running from six months to five years depending on the offense and the jurisdiction.
Both options usually require no other convictions during the waiting period and no current probation or pending charges. Violent offenses, sex offenses, and family-violence convictions are commonly disqualifying. Eligibility rules vary significantly from state to state, so a local attorney or legal aid organization is the only reliable way to know whether a specific conviction qualifies.
Federal Property Is a Separate Offense
Most breaking and entering charges are prosecuted under state law. Entering federal property through fraud or false pretenses is a different crime. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1036, fraudulently entering any real property, vessel, or aircraft belonging to the United States, or any secure area of an airport or seaport, carries up to six months in prison. If the entry was committed with the intent to commit a felony, the maximum rises to 10 years.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1036 – Entry by False Pretenses to Any Real Property, Vessel, or Aircraft of the United States or Secure Area of Any Airport or Seaport Federal cases are prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office under their own sentencing guidelines, separate from any state charges.