Grand theft in California is the taking of someone else’s property worth more than $950, or taking certain categories of property regardless of value, under Penal Code 487. It’s a wobbler, which means prosecutors can file it as a misdemeanor or a felony. A felony conviction carries up to three years in custody, mandatory restitution, and consequences that can reach your immigration status, your professional license, and your future record.
What Makes a Theft “Grand Theft”
Penal Code 487 gives prosecutors several ways to reach a grand theft charge.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 487 – Grand Theft The baseline is value: money, labor, real property, or personal property worth more than $950 qualifies.
Some property is always grand theft, no matter the price tag. Taking an automobile or a firearm counts, even if the item would sell for far less than $950. So does property taken directly from another person’s body, like reaching into a pocket or pulling a chain off a neck.
Agricultural and aquacultural products carry a lower threshold. Farm crops, domestic fowl, avocados, citrus, nuts, and vegetables cross into grand theft at $250. Fish, shellfish, kelp, and other aquacultural products taken from a commercial or research operation hit the same $250 mark.
Employee theft has its own rule. Stealing from an employer in amounts that total $950 or more over any 12 consecutive months is grand theft, even when no single incident crossed the line. Related thefts tied to a single plan and carried out within a 90-day window can also be aggregated across multiple victims and multiple counties to clear $950.
Every version of the charge requires proof you intended to permanently deprive the owner of the property. Without that intent, the case fails.
The $950 Line After Proposition 47
Voters passed Proposition 47 in 2014 and added Penal Code 490.2, which treats any theft of property worth $950 or less as misdemeanor petty theft, regardless of how it was committed.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 490.2 Prop 47 also created a separate shoplifting misdemeanor under Penal Code 459.5 for entering a business during regular hours with intent to steal $950 or less.3California Courts. Proposition 47 Frequently Asked Questions
There is an exception. If you have certain prior convictions, particularly serious or violent felonies listed under Penal Code 667(e)(2)(C)(iv), or offenses requiring sex offender registration, you can still face felony charges for theft at or under $950.
Penalties by Charge Level
The prosecutor decides whether to file grand theft as a misdemeanor or felony, weighing the value involved, how the theft happened, and your record.
Misdemeanor Grand Theft
A misdemeanor conviction carries up to one year in county jail.4California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 489 – Grand Theft Punishment In practice, outcomes often include probation, community service, or a shorter jail term, particularly when the value sits close to the $950 threshold and there’s no violence or prior record.
Felony Grand Theft
Felony grand theft carries 16 months, two years, or three years under Penal Code 1170(h). The time is served in county jail rather than state prison for most defendants. State prison applies when you have a prior serious or violent felony conviction, are required to register as a sex offender, or fall into other disqualifying categories.5California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1170
Grand Theft of a Firearm
Stealing a firearm is punished by 16 months, two years, or three years in state prison, not county jail.4California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 489 – Grand Theft Punishment State prison time carries harsher conditions and affects parole eligibility differently than a county jail sentence.
Added Time for High-Value Theft
Penal Code 12022.6 stacks mandatory consecutive time onto the base felony sentence when losses pass certain thresholds:6California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 12022.6
- 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 additional $3 million
The enhancement applies to the loss amount or the property value, whichever is greater. For organized retail theft or large-scale embezzlement, the add-on can roughly double the underlying term.
Restitution and Fines
Penal Code 1202.4 requires the court to order full restitution to anyone who suffered an economic loss. That covers the value of stolen or damaged property, medical expenses, lost wages, and in some situations the cost of increased home security. Interest runs at 10% per year from the sentencing date.7California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1202.4
A separate restitution fine goes to the state. For a felony grand theft, the range is $300 to $10,000; for a misdemeanor, $150 to $1,000. The court can skip the fine only by documenting compelling and extraordinary reasons on the record, which is rare.
Three Strikes and Prior-Theft Rules
California’s three strikes law under Penal Code 667 doubles the sentence for any new felony if you have one prior strike. With two or more prior strikes, the stakes climb toward a potential life sentence.8California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 667
Proposition 36, passed in 2012, narrowed that outcome. A 25-to-life third-strike sentence now applies only when the new offense is itself serious or violent. Grand theft that doesn’t involve a firearm is not classified as serious or violent, so a person with two prior strikes who commits non-firearm grand theft faces a doubled term rather than an automatic life sentence.9Legislative Analyst’s Office. Proposition 36 – Three Strikes Law Sentencing for Repeat Felony Offenders Prosecutors can still pursue life sentences in narrow situations involving certain drug or weapons allegations.
Penal Code 666 adds its own repeat-offender rule. A new petty theft can be charged as a misdemeanor or felony if you’ve served time for a prior grand theft, burglary, carjacking, robbery, or auto theft and you also have a prior serious or violent felony or a sex offender registration requirement.10California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 666
Reducing a Felony Conviction to a Misdemeanor Later
Because grand theft is a wobbler, a felony conviction can sometimes be reduced to a misdemeanor under Penal Code 17(b). The reduction isn’t automatic. You or your attorney files a motion, either at sentencing or after you successfully complete felony probation. If granted, the offense becomes a misdemeanor for all purposes going forward, which can open doors for employment, housing, and licensing.
One catch: if you were sentenced to county jail under the felony provisions of Penal Code 1170(h) rather than granted probation, the reduction generally isn’t available. The pathway effectively requires that the court put you on probation in the first place.
Consequences Past the Sentence
The custody time and fines are only part of what a conviction can cost.
Immigration
Theft with intent to permanently deprive is generally treated as a crime involving moral turpitude under federal immigration law. For noncitizens, that classification can trigger removal proceedings or block re-entry after travel. The specific plea matters: pleading to a narrower version of the offense, such as one based on temporary intent, can sometimes avoid the moral turpitude label. Anyone facing grand theft charges who is not a U.S. citizen should get immigration-specific advice before accepting any deal.
Professional Licensing
Licensing boards in fields that involve financial trust, including real estate, accounting, nursing, and law, review criminal convictions as a matter of course. A grand theft conviction, especially a felony, can lead to denial, suspension, or revocation. Boards weigh the nature of the offense and evidence of rehabilitation, but theft and fraud draw the heaviest scrutiny because they bear directly on honesty.
Defenses That Actually Work
Most grand theft defenses go after intent or value. Breaking either one weakens or defeats the charge.
Lack of Intent
The prosecution has to prove you intended to permanently take the property. An honest belief that the item was yours, or a plan to return it, can negate that intent even if the belief was mistaken. This argument comes up often in disputes among business partners, roommates, or family members where ownership lines are unclear.
Challenging the Property Value
The $950 threshold is the hinge between grand theft and misdemeanor petty theft under Penal Code 490.2.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 490.2 Prosecutors use fair market value, meaning what a willing buyer would pay a willing seller, not the original purchase price. A defense appraisal below $950 drops the charge. This fight comes up often with used electronics, clothing, and other items that depreciate fast.
Duress and Necessity
If someone threatened you with serious, immediate harm unless you committed the theft, duress is a complete defense. A vague future threat won’t qualify. Necessity is narrower and rarely successful: it argues the theft prevented a greater harm, like taking supplies during a disaster.
When Federal Charges Come In
State charges aren’t the only exposure. Under 18 U.S.C. § 2314, knowingly transporting stolen goods worth $5,000 or more across state lines is a federal offense.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 2314 – Transportation of Stolen Goods, Securities, Moneys, Fraudulent State Tax Stamps, or Articles Used in Counterfeiting Federal penalties run steeper than California’s, and federal restitution orders are enforceable for 20 years past the judgment date plus any time actually incarcerated.
Theft of U.S. government property has its own statute. Under 18 U.S.C. § 641, stealing government property worth more than $1,000 carries up to ten years in federal prison; amounts under $1,000 carry up to one year.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 641 – Public Money, Property or Records These charges come into play with theft from military bases, federal offices, or government contractors.