Virginia Larceny Lawyers

Virginia Larceny Lawyers

Are you facing a theft charge and concerned about what this means for your future? Our Virginia larceny lawyers are here to help you navigate the criminal justice system to get you the results you hoped for. Call us today if you want your charges to be reduced or dropped. Set up your free consultation with us right away.

Virginia First Offense of Grand Larceny

If you are facing a first offense for grand larceny, this is serious, and you could be looking at spending time in jail if you are convicted of the charge. Sometimes, people think that they can get their first offense felony grand larceny charges dismissed but that’s not how it happens. Simply because it’s your first offense, you don’t get special treatment from Virginia law. You will have to go through trial to try to prove yourself not guilty of your grand larceny charges. Our Virginia larceny lawyers will come up with a plan for you to fight in court. You might be able to negotiate a lower sentencing.

If you have second or third offenses for grand larceny, this almost always means that you’re going to end up spending some time in jail in Virginia. We hope that you get in touch with us right away whether this is your first or your third charge for grand larceny so we can get started on building your case.

Getting Your Charge Reduced

The difference between a felony and a misdemeanor charge for larceny depends on the value of the item that was alleged to have been stolen by you or a ledge for you to have intended to steal. Our Virginia larceny lawyers will fight to argue the value of the item down. If we can reduce the charge from a felony to a misdemeanor you might not see any time in jail and your penalties will likely be reduced.

If the jury finds that the item you allegedly intended to steal or did steal was valued below $1000, then you might be guilty of petty larceny as opposed to grand larceny which will leave you better off.

Misdemeanor Larceny Charge

If you have been charged or arrested for larceny as a misdemeanor charge, then one of the following must be true for you:

• You stole an item or items that were worth under $1000
• You stole items or money from another person that was worth under five dollars

In Virginia, the law classifies misdemeanor larceny as a Class 1 misdemeanor. At maximum, you can be penalized with a $2500 fine as well as up to a year in jail.

If the jury were to find that you indeed intended to steal or did steal an item valued at $500 or more, it will be considered a misdemeanor petty larceny conviction.

Virginia First Offense Larceny Charge

If it is your first offense of petty larceny it will be a misdemeanor. There is a little bit of leniency within the Virginia court system for these first offenses for Petit larceny. However this does not mean that you want this on your criminal record as it can cause issues for the rest of your life if you are convicted. Our Virginia larceny lawyers urge you to reach out even if this is a seemingly lesser crime with less or penalties. We can help you for your first offense misdemeanor larceny charge.

If you have been charged with a second or third or subsequent offense for petty larceny it will likely result in you spending time in jail. We want you to reach out to us right away, so you don’t end up having to go to jail because of a conviction.

Shoplifting

Shoplifting is considered theft and also larceny. It does have its own code section in the law because it makes it easier for someone to be convicted of their charges.

For shoplifting charges, it can be misdemeanor or felony based on how much the value of the items or item was that you either allegedly stole or intended to steal. If it was over $1000, then this will be considered a felony offense and a misdemeanor if it’s under.

The definition of shoplifting is removing merchandise without telling the owner of the store that you’re doing it without paying for the full price of the item. I can also be considered defrauding the owner of the store of the value of the items or item. The main denominator between those two types of definitions is that you did not have permission to take these items without paying. You might have been accused of leaving a store with something that you didn’t pay for or changing a price tag on something so that you could pay less without telling the owner of the store.

Even if you had merchandise in the store it can be construed as shoplifting because it can be seen as an intent to steal something. For example if you put something under your clothing to conceal it from staff or the shop owner it can be considered as intent to steal.

Penalty Enhancements

If you are being accused of stealing with the intent to sell the stolen merchandise the minimum penalty for going to prison is two years. According to Virginia law if you’ve stolen multiple of the same items and it is considered grand larceny then they can use that as evidence to prove that you intended to sell the stolen items.

If you have been charged with larceny and the intent to re-distribute or sell the stolen items in the value is over $1000 this is going to be considered a felony and you will likely spend no less than two years nor more than 20 years in a correctional facility if you are convicted with these charges. This is considered a Class 5 felony.

Our Virginia larceny lawyers are going to fight diligently to prevent you from having to face the harshest of penalties. We want you to get the results you deserve while protecting your rights.

How the Prosecution Works Against You

The prosecution might have an easy time proving their larceny case against you. If they have a witness who is willing to testify against you for example a store employee or even video footage of you they can put that into their own evidence to be shown in court. The judge will then calculate the value of the item that was stolen.

Unfortunately even if you just walked past the cashier with items that you didn’t pay for this might trigger the law against you and have the prosecution say that there was an intent to steal. But might not be the case for you.

When the prosecution is handling a shoplifting case they can prove simply that you had merchandise while you were in the shopping mall or a store and sometimes that’s enough for them to convict you. That would show evidence that you intended to steal that merchandise or deprive the store of the value of the item. You can be considered guilty of larceny without actually exiting a store with merchandise. The prosecution will be all over that trying to prove you had an intent to steal even if you know you did not.

We want to help you fight against the prosecution no matter how strong they think their case is.

Call Our Virginia Larceny Lawyers Today 

If you’ve been charged with larceny, we hope that you reach out to our Virginia larceny lawyers right away. You deserve to have your rights protected so that your charges can be dropped or your penalties can be reduced. Call us today to set up your first consultation.