c. 266, § 40
Common and notorious thief
Official text prohibited actmental stateif conditionpenaltylegal term
Whoever, having been convicted, upon indictment, of larceny or of being accessory to larceny before the fact, afterward commits a larceny or is accessory thereto before the fact, and is convicted thereof upon indictment, and whoever is convicted at the same sitting of the court, as principal or accessory before the fact, of three distinct larcenies, shall be adjudged a common and notorious thief, and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than twenty years or in jail for not more than two and one half years.
Simplified explanation
A person convicted of larceny a further time after a prior larceny conviction, or of three larcenies at one court sitting, is a common and notorious thief, punishable by up to 20 years in state prison.