An accusation of theft can drastically alter your life and jeopardize your future. It could be a momentary misjudgment, a legal battle over property ownership, or even mistaken identity, but the judicial system is fast-paced, and the consequences can be severe. To be convicted does not merely mean that you are subject to jail time or substantial fines. It results in a permanent criminal record that could ruin your career and reputation in the decades to come.
Theft cases are often more complex than they appear in a police report. Defendants often need an attorney well-versed in criminal intent and evidentiary standards. You do not have to face prosecution without legal representation. At Singh Law, we provide vigorous and strategic defense representation that you require when it comes to fighting back and defending your rights. One mistake or false allegation should not define your future. Our theft crimes defense attorneys are here if you are facing any theft charges in Southern California.
Petty Theft and Grand Theft
The California Penal Code divides theft-related crimes into two major groups: petty theft and grand theft, with a particular financial threshold known as the $950 threshold. This is the threshold that is determined and entrenched by Proposition 47, which sets the level of charges against you and the possibility of a lifelong criminal record.
When the value of allegedly stolen property, labor, or money is $950 or less, the state normally charges you with a petty theft charge under Penal Code § 484. Being a misdemeanor:
- The maximum sentence is six months in county jail
- The maximum fine is $1,000
However, even this classification leaves a mark of a “crime of moral turpitude” on your background check. Thus, these charges can significantly affect employment opportunities.
When the value of the property exceeds $950, you are charged with grand theft under Penal Code 487. This category is a wobbler, and the prosecutor may charge your case as either a misdemeanor or a felony. The choice will depend on your criminal record and the circumstances of the occurrence.
A misdemeanor conviction of grand theft may include up to one year in county jail, whereas a felony conviction may include sixteen months, two years, or three years in state prison, and the penalty is much heavier. The financial boundary plays a crucial role in the legal system, as the item’s appraised value primarily determines the prosecution’s path.
Nevertheless, the cash value of an item does not necessarily determine how serious your predicament is. The law defines some of the acts as certain forms of grand theft that apply regardless of value. In these instances, the nature of the property you are accused of taking overrides the $950 rule entirely. For example, theft of a firearm, regardless of its market value, is considered a form of grand theft.
According to Penal Code 487(d)(2), gun theft is a serious felony offense that may be charged regardless of value under California’s Three Strikes Law. Similarly, obtaining a vehicle or physically stealing an object directly from another person, for example, through pickpocketing, will bypass the valuation component and immediately subject you to grand theft penalties.
Beyond the specific nature of the property, you might encounter the aggregation strategy prosecutors use to transform minor crimes into serious felonies. The state can add up the total value of items you allegedly stole over a certain time frame by establishing that several minor thefts were part of the same common scheme or plan.
When an employee is charged with stealing small sums of cash from a register over several months, the prosecution adds all those sums together to exceed the $950 limit in any 12 months. Recent changes in legislation also give authorities more power to combine alleged thefts committed at multiple retail locations. This strategic move consolidates multiple minor shoplifting cases into a single grand theft auto case against you.
The Retail Theft (Shoplifting and Organized Crime)
In California, distinct legal frameworks govern retail theft crimes, distinguishing them from minor shoplifting and organized crime. Although most minor crimes are handled under the misdemeanor statutes, recent legislation has given the state greater power to charge repeat offenders and those who operate in groups with felonies.
Shoplifting (PC 459.5)
You are guilty of shoplifting if you enter a commercial building when it is open during normal business hours and with the specific intent to steal property worth no more than $950. This crime, under Penal Code 459.5, is solely a misdemeanor. With a conviction, you could face:
- Up to six months in county jail
- Up to $1,000 in fines
If you enter a store with the intent to steal after business hours, or if the value involved exceeds $950, the state will most likely pursue commercial burglary or grand theft charges rather than shoplifting.
Organized Retail Theft (PC 490.4)
The legal system treats coordinated efforts far more severely than individual shoplifting. You can be charged with organized retail theft under Penal Code 490.4 if you co-conspire with others to steal merchandise to sell, trade, or redeem it. This crime involves the use of smash-and-grab or fencing rings.
This crime, as a wobbler, gives prosecutors the option to charge you with a misdemeanor or a felony.
A conviction for a felony results in a punishment of sixteen months or two to three years in state prison. Moreover, recent legislation allows prosecutors to aggregate theft values across incidents in certain cases over 12 months to qualify as a felony.
In addition to the criminal action in court, you are likely to receive a civil demand letter from a law firm representing the retailer. Under Penal Code 490.5, merchants have the right to recover financial losses and administrative expenses incurred due to theft. These letters typically demand payment of up to $500, even if the recovered merchandise remains undamaged. This demand is a civil matter between you and the store. It does not exempt you from criminal prosecution. The district attorney has the exclusive power to dismiss criminal charges, regardless of whether you meet the store’s monetary requirement.
Theft by Deception (Fraud and Forgery)
California has defined theft not just as the obvious taking of things, but also as theft by deception or trick, in which you misrepresent yourself to obtain property, labor, or personal information. Such white-collar crimes carry a heavy charge in the legal system because of the deceit implied.
Theft by False Pretences (PC 532)
Theft by false pretenses occurs when someone intentionally misrepresents a fact to obtain property or money, with the intent to deceive a person and induce them to relinquish their property or money. The state criminalizes this crime just like regular theft:
- Below $950, it qualifies as petty theft (misdemeanor)
- Over $950, it qualifies as grand theft (wobbler)
Typical examples include “dine and dash” (also called defrauding an innkeeper, PC 537) and passing bad checks (PC 476a), which you commit to defraud a merchant.
Forgery (PC 470)
Forgery is fraud involving the falsification of signatures or the tampering with legal documents to defraud an individual or an organization. You could be charged with signing another person’s name without authorization, forging seals, or writing checks, property deeds, or money orders under Penal Code 470.
Forgery is a wobbler, which is an offense that can be charged as:
- A misdemeanor with a maximum jail term of one year
- A felony with a maximum prison term of three years in state prison
Assuming the counterfeited item is a check or a money order in the amount of $950 or less, the state usually has to prosecute the crime as a misdemeanor unless you have certain prior offenses.
Identity Theft (PC 530.5)
The charges of identity theft apply if you knowingly acquire and use another individual’s personal identifying information (social security number, credit card number, or name) for any illegal purpose without their approval. This offense is also a wobbler.
A misdemeanor conviction results in a one-year county jail sentence, whereas a felony conviction can result in a maximum of three years in state prison and large fines.
Since identity theft falls in the category of a crime of moral turpitude, having a conviction on your record may have harsh collateral consequences, like loss of professional licenses and other adverse effects on immigration status.
Theft by Trust (Embezzlement (PC 503))
Embezzlement differs from standard theft since the property that you are accused of stealing was legally put under your care.
You commit this crime under Penal Code 503 by fraudulently taking possession of property of another person or entity with whom you had been placed in a position of trust or confidence. This is a crime often committed against employees, business partners, or fiduciaries of others’ funds. Since the act presupposes a violation of a relationship, for example, the employer-employee bond, the legal system considers the breach of duty a key element of the crime.
Your punishments for embezzlement are similar to those for petty and grand theft.
When the value of the funds, property, or property stolen is less than 950, the misdemeanor offense is charged in the state, with a maximum of six months in county jail. On the other hand, once the $950 limit is exceeded, the offense becomes grand theft embezzlement, a wobbler. This allows a felony conviction and a maximum of three years’ imprisonment in state prison.
The law provides that once you make the conversion to use the property personally with the intention of depriving the owner, the offense is fulfilled even if you have agreed or intended to refund the money in the future.
For high-value cases, you face significantly harsher consequences through the “aggravated white-collar crime enhancement” under Penal Code 186.11. If the prosecution can demonstrate that you were involved in a series of related felony offenses in which, in the process, you stole over $100,000, the court may impose an additional one-to-five-year sentence. enhancement runs consecutively to the base sentence for the underlying embezzlement. Furthermore, the court can impose significant fines and restitution, which are compulsory. Thus, a conviction not only causes a loss of your freedom but also a financial blow that will be costly to you for decades.
Theft With the Use of Force or Fear (Robbery and Carjacking)
The law distinguishes violent theft from standard property crimes by the presence of force or fear.
When you use physical violence or the threat of injury to take property from the immediate presence of another, the offense elevates from a property crime to a violent felony. These are charges that carry serious felony penalties under California law, including the Three-Strikes Law.
Robbery (PC 211)
You rob when you steal something belonging to somebody without their consent by using force or intimidation. In contrast to shoplifting, which takes place along the aisles of a store, robbery involves a personal attack on a victim. These charges can also be imposed upon you under a legal precedent known as “Estes robbery.” This happens when a simple case of petty shoplifting escalates into a violent confrontation. If you use force or threats to get away from a security guard or to stop him/her from retrieving the property, the law will reclassify the misdemeanor theft to a felony robbery.
Punishments for robbery are based on the degree of the offense.
- First-degree robbery applies when you are attacking victims in their homes or at automated teller machines (ATMs) or when they are operating or riding in a transit vehicle. First-degree robbery is a crime that carries a sentence of 3, 4, or 6 years in state prison.
- Second-degree robbery carries a sentence of two, three, or five years in state prison.
Since both degrees fall under the category of violent felony, a conviction will count as a strike under the Three Strikes law on your record. This will greatly increase your time in prison if you commit a repeat offense.
Carjacking (PC 215)
Carjacking is a special type of robbery that entails the abduction of any motor vehicle by force from a person or the proximity of a driver or an occupant.
Due to the likelihood of being harmed, carjacking is more severely punished by the state than nearly any other theft-related crime. Although you may not have planned to keep the car permanently, simply forcing your way into taking it will be a crime. The conviction for carjacking attracts a state prison term of three, five, or nine years.
Moreover, if you use a firearm in the process of committing a robbery or carjacking, you receive 10-20 years to life enhancements. These laws give you:
- An additional 10 years of your sentence for merely possessing the gun
- 20 years for firing it
- 25 years to life if discharging the firearm causes a victim to suffer great bodily injury or die
These enhancements run consecutively to your base sentence, ensuring that theft involving a weapon results in decades of incarceration.
Theft by Entry (Burglary (PC 459))
California does not define burglary by what you steal, but by the purpose of your entry.
According to Penal Code 459, you burglarize the moment you enter a room, building, or locked vehicle with the express purpose of committing a theft or any felony after doing so. One of the peculiarities of this law is that the crime is legally completed as soon as you enter the threshold with that intent. The state does not have to prove that you have actually stolen some property or committed a secondary crime to secure your conviction.
The legal system categorizes this offense into degrees based on the type of structure involved.
First-Degree Burglary
First-degree burglary, commonly known as residential burglary, occurs when a person breaks into a home, an apartment, or even a lived-in trailer. Since the law aims at safeguarding the sanctity of the home, it is a serious felony offense, which is a strike offense under the Three Strikes Law in itself. First-degree burglary carries a sentence of two, four, or six years in state prison. You have to serve a substantial part of those years before you become eligible for release.
Second-Degree Burglary
Any other means of entry constitutes second-degree burglary, commonly known as commercial burglary. This involves going to stores, offices, or warehouses during or after business hours with the intent to steal. Second-degree burglary is also a wobbler, and the prosecution has the discretion to prosecute you with the following:
- A misdemeanor, which can be punished by no more than a year in jail
- A felony, which can be punished by no more than three years in prison
When you go into a commercial building during working hours to steal property worth less than $950, the law can reclassify the case as shoplifting and not as burglary.
Auto Burglary
Auto burglary has its own specific requirements regarding the vehicle’s condition. To prosecute an individual who has committed PC 459 regarding a car, the prosecution has to demonstrate that the vehicle was locked at the time the individual entered. By opening a window or another unlocked door, you have not committed auto burglary, but you can be charged with tampering or simple theft.
Auto burglary, as with commercial burglary, is a wobbler, with a maximum sentence of 3 years’ imprisonment if you are charged with a felony.
Legal Defenses You Can Use to Challenge the Theft Charges
The prosecution must prove all elements of any type of theft beyond a reasonable doubt to secure a conviction. Since theft regulations rely heavily on your mental state and the physical movement of property, several defenses can be used to discredit the evidence provided by the state and to prove your actions were not a crime. They include the following:
Claim of Right
The claim of right is one of the strongest defenses. The fact that you took possession of the property based on a good-faith belief that you were the owner of that property or you had a legal right to occupy the property makes you not guilty of theft.
This defense applies even if your belief was incorrect or unreasonable, as long as it was in good faith.
Since stealing involves the intention to possess something that is owned by someone else, the fact that you assumed it was yours, maybe to pay a debt or to take back an item you have borrowed, can make a difference between the criminality of a given act and its lack of criminality. This defense, however, is not applicable where the illegal seizure of property is made to pay a debt on a property other than the one owed.
Lack of Specific Intent
Theft is a crime of specific intent. That is, the prosecution has to show that you intended to deprive the owner of his property permanently at the very moment of the taking. This can be refuted by showing no intent through distraction, accidental removal, or intoxication.
For example, if you left a store with a product in a cart but were distracted by a phone call, you did not have the larcenous intent required for a conviction. Equally, should you also be too drunk even to make a deliberate scheme to steal, the state could fail to meet its burden of proof of your state of mind.
Consent and Lack of Asportation
You may also argue that the owner gave you express or implied consent to take or use the property. If the owner allowed you to borrow something, no theft occurred, even though there may be disagreement in the future about when the item is returned.
Moreover, the lack of asportation (the act of carrying something away) is another defense that revolves around the physical needs of the law. To commit the theft, the property has to have been physically transferred, even by a few feet. When you took something but never left with it, or took it somewhere different, or never had full control over the item. The prosecution may fail to prove the physical act of “carrying away” (asportation) necessary to complete a theft.
Find a Theft Crimes Defense Attorney Near Me
A theft conviction carries a weight that lasts far beyond the courtroom, potentially closing doors to future employment, housing, and financial stability. The severity of these charges, ranging from minor shoplifting to high-stakes felonies, demands a proactive and strategic defense to protect your reputation.
Do not allow a bad decision or misunderstanding to shape your future. If you are facing theft charges in Southern California, call Singh Law today at 714-328-6189 for a free consultation.
