Virginia Felony Theft Lawyer

In Virginia, felony theft charges are dependent on the amount of property or money someone is accused of taking. It could be critical to speak with a Virginia felony theft lawyer about how to defend aggressive theft charges. An organized theft attorney can help give you peace of mind when beginning trial.

What is a Felony?

A felony theft is taking without permission with the intent to permanently deprive another person of their property.

A felony offense is typically taking of the dollar amount of $500 or more. Anything below that amount would be considered a misdemeanor.

The elements of felony theft would be the taking of someone else’s property with the intent to permanently deprive them of that property.

Difference Between a Felony and Misdemeanor Theft

The difference between felony theft and misdemeanor theft is the price amount. The exception to that would be if somebody already has two misdemeanor theft convictions or two petit larcenies and they are charged with a third petit larceny. That would be charged as a felony offense in Virginia, regardless of the monetary amount.

Potential Impact on Employment

A felony conviction is often extremely problematic for employment opportunities. That is the appearance that most employers do take. They assume that the person charged with the offense did so because they are not trustworthy. It is going to be a bear moving forward, which is why a person needs a Virginia felony theft lawyer to help them fight it. That is outside of the jail time and other side-effects of having a felony.

One of those is the person loses their right to vote and their right to a lot of government assistance programs, which will not let them continue on them if they have a felony on their record. Some housing also would discriminate against the person if they have a felony record. It is a huge disadvantage for a person going forward in their life outside of the immediate potential of jail time.

Severity of Felony Offense Penalties

The penalties for misdemeanor theft are like all misdemeanors. It would be up to 12 months in jail and potentially up to a fine of $2,500. For a felony theft, it would be up to 20 years in prison and the fine could be higher as well.

Defining Aggravating Factors

If somebody has two misdemeanor convictions in the past for petty larceny and they get a third petty larceny charge, that third petit larceny charge will be charged as a felony. That is the way that it can be aggravated up.

Benefits of Working with a Lawyer

Working with a Virginia felony theft lawyer is a definite advantage because if a person is charged with felony theft they could be facing up to 20 years in prison.

The steps that a theft lawyer is going to take depend on the specific facts of the case and what is going on. For example, if a person is in a situation where they are accused of theft from a big business, their attorney is going to seek to find out whether or not there is any video of the person doing this or any potential witnesses who could be there in their defense.

Personal theft cases are going to be based more on their testimony and less on the identifiable evidence, like video or statements. The testimony of the witness would be something that an attorney would look into as well as the credibility of that person and establish facts from there. No matter what, a person should speak with their attorney about what happened and what needs to happen moving forward.