2025 Code of Georgia
Title 40 - Motor Vehicles and Traffic (Chs. 1 — 16)
Chapter 4 - Identification of and Purchase and Resale of Motor Vehicles and Parts (Arts. 1 — 3)
Article 2 - Alteration or Removal of Identification Numbers (§§ 40-4-20 — 40-4-23)
§ 40-4-21. Removal or falsification of identification number
(a) A person who willfully removes, except in conformance with Code Section 40-3-35, or falsifies an identification number of a vehicle or an engine for a vehicle is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b) A person who, willfully and with intent to misrepresent the identity of a vehicle or engine, removes or falsifies an identification number of the vehicle or engine with intent to convert or defraud is guilty of a felony. A person convicted of a felony under this subsection shall be punished by a fine of not less than $500.00 nor more than $5,000.00, or by imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than five years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
History
Ga. L. 1961, p. 68, § 34; Ga. L. 1984, p. 22, § 40.
Annotations
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Merger of counts. —As to any one vehicle, separate counts charging possession with knowledge that an identification number has been “removed and falsified” and possession with knowledge that an identification number has been “falsified” are merged, and it is error to sentence a defendant to consecutive sentences based on a theory that these counts refer to separate transactions. Gary v. State, 122 Ga. App. 151, 176 S.E.2d 478, 1970 Ga. App. LEXIS 810 (1970).
Verdicts not mutually exclusive. —Although the defendant characterized the jury’s verdicts finding the defendant guilty of operating a chop shop and of falsifying a vehicle identification number as mutually exclusive, the two guilty verdicts returned by the jury could be logically reconciled as a finding that a person wilfully removed or falsified the identification number of a vehicle does not logically exclude a finding that the person owned, operated, or conducted a premise in which the person knowingly altered a vehicle identification number with the intent of misrepresenting the vehicle’s identity, and the defendant’s challenge was actually predicated upon the inconsistent verdict rule, which had been abolished in Georgia. Wilmott v. State, 326 Ga. App. 1, 755 S.E.2d 818, 2014 Ga. App. LEXIS 102 (2014).
Research References & Practice Aids
RESEARCH REFERENCES U.L.A.Uniform Motor Vehicle Certificate of Title and Anti-Theft Act (U.L.A.) § 37.
ALR.Civil rights and liabilities as affected by failure to comply with statute upon sale of motor vehicle, 37 A.L.R. 1465; 52 A.L.R. 701; 63 A.L.R. 688; 94 A.L.R. 948; 58 A.L.R.2d 1351.
Criminal liability, under state law, concerning illegal removal or alteration of vehicle identification number, including sale or possession of altered motor vehicles or parts, 107 A.L.R.5th 567.
Hierarchy Notes:O.C.G.A. Title 40
O.C.G.A. Title 40, Ch. 4, Art. 2
