California Penal Code 487: Grand Theft Thresholds and Penalties

California Penal Code 487 is the state’s grand theft statute. It classifies a theft as “grand” when the property taken is worth more than $950, or when the item or circumstance falls into a special category the law treats seriously regardless of value.¹ Grand theft is a wobbler, meaning prosecutors can file it as either a misdemeanor or a felony. A conviction can mean county jail, state prison, or probation, and the collateral consequences reach into immigration status, employment, and firearm rights.

The $950 Threshold

Subdivision (a) of Section 487 applies when the money, labor, real property, or personal property taken is worth more than $950.¹ Value is measured by the fair market value of the property at the time of the theft: what a reasonable buyer would pay a willing seller. For stolen labor or services, the contract price controls; if there was no contract, the going local wage for that type of work applies.²

Proposition 47, passed by California voters in 2014, sharpens this line from the other side. Under Penal Code 490.2, theft of property worth $950 or less is petty theft and a misdemeanor, no matter which other statute might otherwise call it grand theft. Firearm theft is the one carve-out. It is always grand theft.³

When Grand Theft Applies Below $950

The nature of the property, or the way it was taken, can trigger Section 487 even at low dollar amounts.

Theft From the Person

Subdivision (c) makes taking property directly from someone’s body grand theft at any value.¹ This is the pickpocketing statute. The charge does not require force or fear, which is the line separating it from robbery. Lifting a $20 bill from someone’s jacket pocket qualifies.

Automobiles and Firearms

Subdivision (d) makes stealing a car or a firearm grand theft regardless of value.¹ Firearm theft is treated most harshly of all: it is the only form of grand theft that is a straight felony with no misdemeanor option, punishable by 16 months, two years, or three years in state prison.⁴

Farm and Aquaculture Products

Subdivision (b) drops the threshold to $250 for certain products. Farm crops like avocados, olives, citrus fruits, nuts, artichokes, vegetables, and domestic fowl qualify as grand theft when stolen at a wholesale value exceeding $250. The same $250 threshold covers fish, shellfish, crustaceans, kelp, and other aquaculture products taken from a commercial or research operation.¹

Employee Theft Aggregated Over 12 Months

Subdivision (b)(3) captures skimming schemes. When the total that an employee, agent, or servant takes from an employer or principal reaches $950 or more within any 12-month period, the combined amount supports a single grand theft charge.¹ Small increments do not shield the taking from felony exposure.

Outside the employment context, the Bailey doctrine allows prosecutors to combine smaller thefts as well. The California Supreme Court held in People v. Bailey that multiple takings driven by “one intention, one general impulse, and one plan” constitute a single offense whose values are added together.⁵ Ten $100 thefts from the same victim under a continuing scheme can be charged as one $1,000 grand theft.

What the Prosecution Must Prove

Penal Code 484 supplies the underlying theft definition that Section 487 elevates. The prosecution has to show that the defendant took someone else’s property without permission and intended to deprive the owner of it permanently.² That intent element separates a crime from an honest misunderstanding. Borrowing something you meant to return, or taking property you sincerely believed was yours, does not satisfy it.

California recognizes four theories of theft, and prosecutors pick the one that fits:

Larceny. You physically take and carry away someone else’s property. Even slight movement counts once you have control.
Embezzlement. You were lawfully entrusted with property and then converted it to your own use. Employee diversion of company funds is the classic example.
Theft by trick. You used deception to get the owner to hand over possession of the property.
Theft by false pretenses. Similar to theft by trick, but the victim transferred both possession and legal title based on your false statements.²

Any of the four can support a Section 487 charge when the value or property type meets the statute’s requirements.

Penalties Under Penal Code 489

Penal Code 489 sets the sentences. Firearm theft aside, grand theft is a wobbler, and the penalty depends on how the case is filed.

Misdemeanor Grand Theft

A misdemeanor conviction carries up to one year in county jail.⁴ First-time defendants with modest losses often receive probation instead of jail, sometimes paired with community service and restitution. Prosecutors are more likely to file a misdemeanor when the stolen property barely crossed $950 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 framework.⁴ These are full felony sentences served locally rather than in state prison. The sentence moves to state prison if the defendant has a prior serious or violent felony conviction or is required to register as a sex offender.⁶

Firearm Theft

Stealing a firearm is a straight felony punishable by 16 months, two years, or three years in state prison. There is no misdemeanor option.⁴

Livestock Theft

Grand theft involving livestock under Penal Code 487a carries up to one year in county jail or a felony term under Section 1170(h), plus fines up to $5,000. The fines fund investigations by the Bureau of Livestock Identification.⁴

Sentencing Enhancements for High-Value Theft

Penal Code 12022.6 adds mandatory prison time when the value crosses certain lines. The enhancements are consecutive and stack onto 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 additional $3,000,000.⁷

The enhancement must be alleged in the charging document and either proven to the jury or admitted by the defendant. Prosecutors reach for it most often in large embezzlement and fraud cases.

Reducing a Felony to a Misdemeanor

Because most grand theft charges are wobblers, a felony can drop to a misdemeanor at several stages. The prosecutor can file the case as a misdemeanor from the start. A judge can reduce it before trial, reduce it at sentencing by granting probation and declaring the offense a misdemeanor, or reduce it later after probation is complete.⁸ A reduction under Section 17(b) reclassifies the offense “for all purposes,” which changes how the conviction shows up on background checks and in licensing.

Common Defenses

Grand theft is a specific-intent crime, and that opens the most productive line of defense. If you genuinely believed the property was yours, you lacked the intent to steal. Penal Code 511 codifies this as the “claim of right” defense: openly taking property under a good-faith belief that you have a right to it is a complete defense. The belief does not have to be legally correct, only genuinely held. You cannot use it to justify seizing someone else’s property as a way to collect a debt they owe you.

Other defenses turn on the facts. Actual consent from the owner defeats the charge. Intent to return the property can defeat the permanent-deprivation element, though prosecutors push back hard when the “borrowing” stretched over a long period. Mistaken identity and thin evidence come up often in retail theft cases where surveillance footage is ambiguous. In embezzlement cases, the defense often focuses on whether the defendant actually had the authority and access the prosecution alleges, or whether the financial discrepancy has an innocent explanation.

Immigration Consequences

For non-citizens, a grand theft conviction can be devastating. Federal immigration law classifies a theft offense as an “aggravated felony” when the sentence imposed is at least one year, even if that sentence is suspended.⁹ An aggravated felony makes a non-citizen deportable with almost no relief available. A misdemeanor grand theft sentence of 364 days avoids the trigger; a sentence of exactly one year does not.

Grand theft is also generally treated as a crime involving moral turpitude, since it requires intent to permanently deprive another person of their property. A single crime involving moral turpitude can make a non-citizen inadmissible or deportable depending on when it happened relative to admission to the United States. Defense attorneys handling these cases often negotiate specifically around the immigration triggers, sometimes trading other consequences for a plea that keeps the sentence below one year or restructures the charge.

Clearing the Record After Conviction

Someone convicted of grand theft can petition for dismissal under Penal Code 1203.4 after completing probation. If granted, the court sets aside the guilty verdict or allows withdrawal of the plea, and the case is dismissed.¹⁰ Most private employers cannot consider a dismissed conviction, which is real relief on the job market.

The relief has limits. A dismissed grand theft conviction still has to be disclosed when applying for public office or a state professional license. It does not restore firearm rights. The prior conviction can still be used against you as a “prior” if you are charged with a new offense later.¹⁰ Unpaid restitution does not block the petition, but the restitution obligation itself survives the dismissal.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 487 – Grand Theft
2
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 484 – Theft Defined
3
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 490.2 – Obtaining Property by Theft
4
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 489 – Grand Theft Punishment
5
Stanford Law School. People v Bailey – 55 Cal 2d 514
6
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 1170 – Determinate Sentencing
7
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 12022.6 – Enhancement for Excessive Taking
8
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 17 – Classification of Offenses
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1101 – Definitions
10
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 1203.4 – Dismissal After Probation