Theft happens when someone takes another person’s property with plans to keep it for good.
Grand theft also means stealing something that’s worth money or property of high value. In most places, grand theft counts as a felony in the legal system. A misdemeanor is a lesser crime with a shorter jail time for the offender.
The dollar amount that counts as grand theft changes depending on where you live. But it falls somewhere between $500 and $5,000.
Once the value of what’s stolen goes above the amount that’s set in the law, you’re looking at grand theft. If it falls below that threshold, some states call it petty theft instead. States have now created a few levels of grand theft, each with its own set of penalties. These different levels depend on how much the stolen property was worth.
Figuring out the exact value of the stolen items is central to the whole process. Courts use different methods for this evaluation. They may use the fair market value of the items. They may also use the highest price someone would pay.
Another strategy is to use the retail value of the stolen goods. In some places, prosecutors can add up the value of a few stolen items, even if they were taken during separate incidents, as long as the thefts were part of the same plan or carried out by a group of people working together.
If a few things get stolen from the same person, the same place or during one continuous theft, the court totals up their value to see if it reaches the level of grand theft. But in other states, the law won’t let you add these things up unless there’s one victim or a single theft plan tying everything together.
Grand theft crosses over into other types of crimes in the legal system. As a quick example, white-collar crimes like embezzlement can mean big enough sums of money to be counted as grand theft. Robbery, which means taking the property by force, can also be labeled as grand theft when the value is high enough. There’s also the charge of grand theft auto for stealing a car from someone.
What Types of Property are Treated Differently?
You can be looking at grand theft charges for taking types of property, no matter what that property is worth to anyone. Most states have items like cars, guns, farm animals and crops in this category.
The list of property types changes depending on where you live, so you should still check your state laws for information.
Is Grand Theft a Felony?
You’ll find that grand theft can also result in felony charges.
Most states break down the higher-value theft into separate levels. One more example, a 3rd-degree grand theft includes thefts between $500 and $2,999. And if the amount falls between $3,000 and $49,999, that can count as 2nd-degree, while taking $50,000 or more would get classified as 1st-degree.
You should keep in mind, every state sets its own laws for the dollar amounts, so the cutoffs will change depending on where you’re located. It’s a bit tough to keep track of.
What stays steady is that the penalties and any jail time depend on things like the value of what was stolen and the other facts.
How is Stolen Property Valued?
In grand theft cases you’ll see that the value of stolen objects comes front and center. The prosecutors need to show that the stolen property is worth more than the grand theft minimum or else you can’t be convicted of grand theft at all. You’ll also find there are a few different ways to determine the property value. People use the fair market value or sometimes they use the highest retail price to set that amount.
Which Office Prosecutes a Grand Theft Case?
You’ll see how the district attorney’s office can also take care of all felonies, while the city attorney’s office works with the misdemeanors. In some places, there’s only a district attorney’s office, so the district attorney works with all types of cases. If you’re trying to figure out who’s in charge of your case, you can check which offices are in your area.
What if I Believed the Property Belonged to Me?
If someone ever accuses you of grand theft, the law specifically cares why you did it. If the property was actually yours or you believed that it was yours when you took it, you won’t be found guilty. Courts look at what you legitimately believed. The same goes even if you were trying to take back something that you somehow thought belonged to you.
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What if I Had Consent From the Owner?
If the owner says that you can just take the property, then grand theft doesn’t apply to you. But, if later they claim that you stole it from them, you remain innocent of grand theft in this situation because you had their permission to use it. It comes down to what was agreed on.
What Are the Penalties for Grand Theft?
If you’re convicted of a misdemeanor theft, you could spend up to one year in jail. Felony grand theft also carries much longer prison sentences, usually ranging anywhere from 5 to 20 years or even more in some cases.
The fines can add up faster too. A misdemeanor fine usually stays under $1,000. But for felonies, the amount might climb to $100,000.
The courts may order you to pay restitution and fines if you steal something. And restitution goes straight to the property owner to cover their loss, while fines are a penalty you pay to the state. Restitution ends up being about the same as the value of whatever was taken.
Felony charges also create a long-term problem for your record. One mistake can haunt you for decades. It can still be very hard to have a felony taken off or hidden from your criminal history – it’ll make looking for a job or some benefits much harder down the road.
Community service sometimes gets added to your sentence or it could replace another penalty. What you’re assigned matches what happened in your case. If you stole a car, you might have to pick up some trash along the highway.
You might also be put on probation after a grand theft conviction. Sometimes you’re on probation instead of serving time, sometimes it only kicks in once you leave prison. While you’re on probation, you need to check in with your probation officer. You usually need to have a job. And you need to make sure all fines or restitution payments are made within a set amount of time. If you’re caught breaking the law again or stealing something else during your probation then you’ll almost always face more prison time.
Do I Need a Lawyer for Help With Grand Theft Charges?
The grand theft laws are tough since the laws change depending on where you live. Because of that, if you or someone close to you is dealing with grand theft charges, it helps to work with a local criminal lawyer who knows the process and has experience with similar cases.
Your lawyer will check how grand theft is defined in your state and look for good ways to defend you. Your lawyer may ask for an independent property valuation in this process. When the item is worth less than what the prosecutor claims, your charge could be reduced to a misdemeanor instead of a felony one. Let your lawyer manage the back-and-forth with the prosecutors and take care of things in court if it comes to that.
