Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Tangtang Zhao v. United States
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, No. 23-3366 · judgment June 23, 2025
Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.
Question presented
18 U.S.C. § 641 criminalizes theft of a “thing of value of the United States.” The Federal Circuits apply different and inconsistent tests to determine whether property is a “thing of value of the United States” once distributed to a private, non-government, third party. As such, Mr. Zhao presents the following: What standard do juries apply to determine whether property is a “thing of value of the United States” once distributed to a private, non-government, third party?
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Michael John Petro
A.A.L
For respondent
D. John Sauer
Solicitor General
Case
Subject area
Criminal Procedure (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)
Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference
Order
Order list, November 10, 2025 · Certiorari denied
Proceedings
- Nov 10 2025Petition DENIED.
- Oct 08 2025DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/7/2025.
- Sep 30 2025Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
- Sep 18 2025Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 22, 2025)