What Is Grand Larceny? New York Criminal Defense Lawyer Explains
How about going up the scale? You said items valued at $1,000 and up is a grand larceny charge. Is there another level of charges if the stolen item is valued above $1,000?
Well, there are various forms of felonies, depending upon the value of the items or the value of the theft. There are grand larceny charges in various degrees and each degree is a more serious theft in terms of the amount involved. Each one carries a stiffer penalty.
Again, all these larceny offenses are demarcated by the value of the item taken, and because the legislature drafted these statutes in that manner, one of the main concerns of a district attorney in reviewing the case is going to be based on what’s the value of the item, which gets us back to Neiman Marcus versus Kohl’s.
If it’s $500.00, it’s going to be treated more seriously than a $10.00 item. If it’s $50,000, it’s going to be treated more seriously than $10,000, etc.
Different Levels Of Larceny In New York:
Petit Larceny | Stealing Property of Any Value |
Grand Larceny in the 4th Degree | Value of the Property exceeds $1000 |
Grand Larceny in the 3rd Degree | Value of the Property exceeds $3000 |
Grand Larceny in the 2nd Degree | Value of the Property exceeds $50,000 |
Grand Larceny in the 1st Degree | Value of the Property exceeds $1,000,000 |
Is the Theft of Certain Items Classified Differently?
What about the particular type of item you steal? Is there such a thing called theft of an automobile that’s different in nature than theft of a store item?
Automobile Theft Is Classified under a Separate Statute
Automobile theft is a separate statute. Theft of services, if you don’t pay cab fare or a bus or a train, it’s a separate category. Larceny offenses, they can be larceny by fraud. It can be larceny actually by theft.
These are not categories of larceny; these are various categories of theft.
Identity Theft has become Less Prevalent in the White Plains area
Is identity theft significant or is it just a small portion of the cases?
It’s just a small portion. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen cases brought of identity theft. Charges are not usually applied unless you pin some monetary value based on the theft.
Even of itself, identity theft is not usually brought as a separate crime, although it is. It’s basically that you’re using another person’s identity to obtain funds through credit cards, etc.
Michael Kramer explains the various degrees of grand larceny in New York.
Call for a Free, 20-min, Traffic Ticket Strategy Session (914) 690-6895.