California Penal Code 487 is the state’s grand theft statute. It applies most often when someone takes money, labor, or property worth more than $950, but it also reaches certain items, like firearms and cars, at any value, and theft taken directly from a person’s body regardless of amount.1California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 487 – Grand Theft Grand theft is a “wobbler,” which means prosecutors can file it as a misdemeanor or a felony. A conviction can mean anything from probation to three years of incarceration, and the collateral damage to employment, immigration status, and civil rights often outlasts the sentence itself.
When Penal Code 487 Applies
The core rule under subdivision (a) is the $950 threshold. Any theft of money, labor, real property, or personal property worth more than $950 is grand theft.1California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 487 – Grand Theft Value is measured by fair market value at the time of the theft, meaning what a willing buyer would pay a willing seller. For stolen labor or services, the contract price controls; if there was no contract, the going local wage governs.2California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 484 – Theft Defined
Proposition 47, passed by California voters in 2014, hardened this line. Under Penal Code 490.2, any theft of property worth $950 or less is petty theft and a misdemeanor, no matter what other statute might otherwise classify it as grand theft. The sole exception is firearm theft, which remains grand theft at any value.3California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 490.2 – Obtaining Property by Theft
Several circumstances qualify as grand theft even when the amount is low:
- Theft from the person. Subdivision (c) covers property taken directly from someone’s body, such as pickpocketing. No force or fear is required, which separates it from robbery. Lifting a $20 bill from someone’s pocket qualifies.1California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 487 – Grand Theft
- Automobiles and firearms. Under subdivision (d), stealing a car or a gun is grand theft regardless of value. Firearm theft is treated most harshly, as explained in the penalties section.
- Employee theft over 12 months. When an employee, agent, or servant takes amounts from their employer that total $950 or more in any 12-month period, those takings combine into a single grand theft charge under subdivision (b)(3). Skimming small amounts over time does not avoid the charge.
- Agricultural and aquaculture products. A lower $250 wholesale threshold applies to crops like avocados, citrus, nuts, and vegetables, to domestic fowl, and to fish, shellfish, and other products taken from commercial or research aquaculture operations.
What the Prosecution Must Prove
Grand theft builds on the general definition of theft in Penal Code 484. The prosecution must prove you took someone else’s property without permission and intended to permanently deprive the owner of it.2California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 484 – Theft Defined That intent requirement is doing most of the work. Borrowing something you genuinely planned to return, or taking property you honestly believed was yours, does not meet it.
California recognizes four theories of theft, and prosecutors pick the one that fits the facts. Larceny is the classic form: physically taking and carrying away someone else’s property, with even slight movement enough once control is gained. Embezzlement covers property you were lawfully entrusted with and then converted to your own use, the typical employee-funds scenario. Theft by trick means you used deception to get possession of property the victim handed over voluntarily. Theft by false pretenses is similar, except the victim transferred both possession and legal title based on your lies.2California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 484 – Theft Defined Any of the four can support a grand theft charge if the value or property type triggers Penal Code 487.
Penalties Under Penal Code 489
Penal Code 489 sets the sentencing framework. With one exception, grand theft is a wobbler, and the sentence depends on how the case is filed.
Misdemeanor Grand Theft
A misdemeanor conviction carries up to one year in county jail.4California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 489 – Grand Theft Punishment First-time defendants whose theft barely crossed $950 often receive probation instead of jail time, sometimes with community service and restitution. Prosecutors are more likely to file as a misdemeanor when the amount is modest and the defendant has no prior record.
Felony Grand Theft
A felony conviction carries 16 months, two years, or three years, served in county jail under California’s realignment program.4California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 489 – Grand Theft Punishment These are full felony sentences, served locally rather than in state prison. The sentence shifts to state prison when the defendant has a prior serious or violent felony conviction or must register as a sex offender.5California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 1170 – Determinate Sentencing
Firearm Theft
Stealing a firearm is a straight felony, punishable by 16 months, two years, or three years in state prison, with no misdemeanor option available.4California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 489 – Grand Theft Punishment It is the harshest treatment Section 489 provides.
High-Value Enhancements
When the stolen property reaches certain amounts, Penal Code 12022.6 adds mandatory consecutive prison time on top of the base sentence:
- Over $50,000: one additional year
- Over $200,000: two additional years
- Over $1,000,000: three additional years
- Over $3,000,000: four additional years, plus one more year for every further $3,000,0006California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 12022.6 – Enhancement for Excessive Taking
Enhancements must be alleged in the charging document and proven to the jury or admitted. They show up most often in large embezzlement and fraud cases.
Common Defenses
Because grand theft is a specific-intent crime, the strongest defenses usually target intent. The “claim of right” defense under Penal Code 511 is a complete defense: if you openly took the property under a good-faith belief that you had a right to it, you are not guilty of theft. The belief does not need to be legally correct, only genuinely held. One important limit: you cannot use claim of right to justify taking someone else’s property as a way to collect a debt they owe you.
Consent is another full defense. If the owner actually agreed to the taking, there is no theft. If you intended to return the property, the permanent-deprivation element may fail, though prosecutors will push hard against a long “borrowing” period. Mistaken identity and insufficient evidence come up often in retail cases built on ambiguous surveillance footage. For embezzlement, the defense frequently turns on whether the defendant actually had the authority and access the prosecution alleges, or whether a financial discrepancy has an innocent explanation.
Reducing a Felony to a Misdemeanor
Because most grand theft charges are wobblers, there are several moments where a felony can become a misdemeanor. The prosecutor can file it that way from the start. A judge can reduce it before trial, at sentencing when granting probation, or even after probation is complete, under Penal Code 17(b).7California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 17 – Classification of Offenses A reduction under this section reclassifies the offense “for all purposes,” which matters significantly for background checks and professional licensing.
Immigration Consequences
For non-citizens, a grand theft conviction can be severe in ways separate from jail time. Federal immigration law classifies a theft offense as an “aggravated felony” when the sentence imposed is at least one year, even if the sentence is suspended.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1101 – Definitions An aggravated felony conviction makes a non-citizen deportable with almost no relief available. A sentence of 364 days avoids this trigger; exactly one year does not.
Grand theft is also generally treated as a crime involving moral turpitude, because it requires intent to permanently deprive another person of their property. A single such conviction can make a non-citizen inadmissible or deportable depending on when it occurred relative to admission to the United States. Defense attorneys handling non-citizen cases often negotiate specifically around these triggers, sometimes accepting other consequences in exchange for a plea that keeps the sentence under a year or restructures the charge.
Expungement After Conviction
After completing probation, you can petition for dismissal under Penal Code 1203.4. If the court grants it, the guilty verdict is set aside or the guilty plea is withdrawn, and the case is dismissed.9California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 1203.4 – Dismissal After Probation Most private employers running background checks cannot consider a dismissed conviction, which is real relief.
The relief has limits worth knowing. You must still disclose a dismissed grand theft conviction when applying for public office or a state professional license. It does not restore firearm rights. And the prior can still be used against you if you are charged with a new offense later.9California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 1203.4 – Dismissal After Probation Unpaid restitution does not block the petition, but the obligation to pay survives dismissal.