Federal law now criminalizes cable theft with 10-year prison penalty
S. 5617 — Combating Critical Infrastructure Vandalism Act of 2026 · Filed by Eric Schmitt (R-MO) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Sep 30, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends federal law to make it a crime to willfully damage, destroy, or steal copper, fiber, or coaxial cables used for telecommunications or information services. It adds theft as a new criminal offense (previously only injury/destruction were covered), clarifies that the law applies to cables in interstate or foreign commerce, and exempts customer-owned equipment on private property from the new theft provision.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole function is to expand criminal penalties for vandalism and theft of telecommunications infrastructure. It is a straightforward amendment to existing criminal statute 18 U.S.C. § 1362, adding theft as a new offense and clarifying scope.
What the text implies
- Theft of copper/fiber cables is now a federal crime with up to 10-year prison sentence, potentially affecting scrappers and salvage operations that may not distinguish between abandoned and active infrastructure.
- The definition of 'customer premises equipment' exemption is narrow (equipment on customer property owned/rented/leased by customer), meaning theft of telecom-company-owned equipment on customer premises remains criminal.
- Interstate/foreign commerce requirement means purely intrastate cables may fall outside federal jurisdiction, creating potential gaps in coverage depending on state law.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill protects critical telecommunications infrastructure from theft and vandalism, reducing service disruptions that harm ordinary users. The exemption for customer-owned equipment preserves property rights. The expansion of criminal penalties targets destructive conduct, not citizen rights or protections.
Who stands to gain
- telecommunications service providers
- broadband infrastructure operators
- cable manufacturers and installers
Named in the bill
18 U.S.C. § 1362, Communications Act of 1934, telecommunications services, information services, copper cables, fiber optic cables, coaxial cables
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Sep 30, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 30, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,993 characters) on Oct 7, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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