Las Vegas Petit and Grand Larceny Attorney

NEVADA’S DEFINITION OF Petit and Grand LARCENY

According to NRS 205.220, a person commits larceny when they intentionally steal, take and carry away, lead away or drive away someone else’s property. When that property is valued at $1,200 or more, the person will be charged with grand larceny. If the value of the property is less than $1,200, then the person would not be charged would instead be charged with petit larceny or misdemeanor theft. Please see our Theft page for more information on that offense.

PETIT LARCENY OF LESS THAN $1,200

If the value of the property is less than $1,200, then the person would be charged with a

misdemeanor, which carries a potential sentence of six months in jail and a fine of not more than $1,000 plus administrative assessment fees. (NRS 205.240).

GRAND LARCENY OF MORE THAN $1,200 BUT LESS THAN $5,000

If the value of the property is more than $1,200 but less than $5,000, then the person would be charged with a category D felony, which carries a potential sentence of 1 to 4 years in the Nevada Department of Corrections and a fine of up to $5,000 (NRS 205.222.2(a)). This is a probationable offense.

GRAND LARCENY OF MORE THAN $5,000 BUT LESS THAN $25,000

If the value of the property is more than $5,000 but less than $25,000, then the person would be charged with a category C felony, which carries a potential sentence of 1 to 5 years in the Nevada Department of Corrections and a fine of up to $10,000 (NRS 205.222.2(b)). This is a probationable offense.

GRAND LARCENY OF MORE THAN $25,000 BUT LESS THAN $100,000

If the value of the property is more than $25,000 but less than $100,000, then the person would be charged with a category B felony, which carries a potential sentence of 1 to 10 years in the Nevada Department of Corrections and a fine of up to $10,000 (NRS 205.222.2(c)). This is a probationable offense.

GRAND LARCENY OF MORE THAN $100,000

If the value of the property is more than $100,000, then the person would be charged with a category B felony, which carries a potential sentence of 1 to 20 years in the Nevada Department of Corrections and a fine of up to $15,000 (NRS 205.222.2(d)). This is a probationable offense.

GRAND LARCENY OF A FIREARM – VALUE IRRELEVANT

If the property that is stolen is a firearm, then the value of the firearm is irrelevant. The person would be charged with a category B felony, which carries a potential sentence of 1 to 10 years in the Nevada Department of Corrections and a fine of up to $10,000 (NRS 205.226). This is also a probationable offense.

GRAND LARCENY OF A MOTOR VEHICLE– VALUE IRRELEVANT

If the property that is stolen is a motor vehicle, then the person would be charged with either a B or a C felony depending on whether the person had prior convictions for the offense or not. If the person does not have any prior convictions for grand larceny of a vehicle, then he would be charged with a category C felony, which carries a potential sentence of 1 to 5 years in the Nevada Department of Corrections and a fine of up to $10,000 (NRS 205.228.2). If the person does have prior convictions that were sustained within the last 5 years, then the person would be charged with a category B felony, which carries a potential sentence of 1 to 6 years in the Nevada Department of Corrections and a fine of up to $5,000 (NRS 205.228.2). This is also a probationable offense.

BAIT PURSES AND BAIT WALLETS

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has an ongoing bait purse and wallet sting operation that they run in many of the local Las Vegas casinos. Their aim is to combat the rise in tourist-related crimes and to make sure that visitors feel safe when they come to Las Vegas. However, these sting operations have the potential to ensnare not just the guilty but also the unwitting Good Samaritan. Please see our page on Bait Purses and Wallets for more information.

DEFENSES TO PETIT AND GRAND LARCENY

• No Intent to Deprive - One of the most common defenses to a grand larceny charge is that there was no intent on the part of the person who took the property to deprive the rightful owner of that property. A good example of this would be a teenager who takes a neighbor’s car around the block without permission and then returns it, which is commonly referred to as “joy riding”. In this situation, the teenager didn’t have the intent to deprive the neighbor of his vehicle. To the contrary, his intent was to drive the car around the block and then return it to the neighbor.
• Property in Question Belonged to the Defendant – Another common defense would be that the person who is accused of stealing the property actually owned the property in question. This issue sometimes arises when there is a dispute regarding who the real owner of the property is. In such instances, liability will ultimately be determined after reviewing all of the available records and interviewing any relevant witnesses to see whether ownership can truly be established by either side.
• Value of the Property is Less than What’s Claimed – With the exception of gun and vehicle cases, the prosecutor must prove that the value of the property was above a certain threshold. If the property in question is actually of far less value than what was initially claimed, then the charge would have to be reduced down to the corresponding category for the actual value of the property.

In each of these instances, the prosecutor would have a difficult time trying to convict the person. The first two defenses would be absolute defenses to the charge and could result in acquittals or dismissals if substantiated or otherwise believed. In the third scenario, while it would not be considered an absolute defense in the sense that the prosecutor could always amend the charge, the charge would stil be getting reduced – possibly from a felony all the way down to a misdemeanor depending on how much less the property is actually valued at than what was originally claimed.

Favorable negotiations are very common with these types of cases, which is true even in situations where there are not great defenses to work with such as what’s listed above. It is important to involve an experienced criminal defense attorney so that you can ensure that you get the best outcome possible for your specific facts and goals. While I have handled a lot of grand larceny cases, I still firmly believe that no two cases or people are the same, nor should they be treated as such. Give Ferris Law a call today so that we can discuss the specifics of your case and answer any questions that you might have.