Los Angeles Petty Theft Attorney

Los Angeles Petty Theft Information 

• Larceny is the taking and carrying away the "tangible personal property of another by trespass with intent to permanently deprive the person of his interest in the property." Thus, real estate, services and other intangible "properties" cannot be objects of larceny.
• Burglary is illegally breaking into someone else's property with a plan or intention of stealing something from that property. The seriousness of the crime can depend on when and where the crime occurred, whether or not people were present when the crime was committed, and the use (or non-use) of a weapon.
• Embezzlement is a serious theft crime carried out by employees who are familiar with the business and exploit that knowledge for illegally taking money. The significant difference between embezzlement and other theft crimes is that embezzled property is legally possessed or accessed by the person doing the embezzling.
• The consequences and penalties for petty theft are more far reaching than most people would guess:
  - In most cases, first offenses such as Shoplifting are punishable by a small fine and 1 year of informal probation, even for a teen or juvenile offender.
  - Petty theft can be punishable by a fine of up to $400 or by imprisonment in County jail for up to 6 months, or both.
  - Petty Theft can be charged as a felony on your second offense under Penal Code section 666. A second conviction of Petty Theft can carry a maximum sentence of 16 months in state prison.
  
  If you have prior felony convictions, you could be susceptible to California's Three Strikes laws:
  - Jerry DeWayne Williams, who was convicted for stealing a single slice of pepperoni pizza from a group of children received a Third Strike sentence because he had two prior felony strike convictions.
  - Kevin Weber was sentenced to 26 years to life for the crime of stealing four chocolate chip cookies (previous strikes of burglary and assault with a deadly weapon)
  
  While it may seem that petty theft is a minor crime, the penalties and consequences can far outweigh the offense.