Grand Larceny in New York

Grand larceny is the felony grade of theft in New York. The Penal Law divides it into four degrees based on the value of the property and the manner of the theft.

• Grand larceny in the fourth degree (PL § 155.30). Class E felony. Value over $1,000, or theft of a credit/debit card, firearm, motor vehicle, public record, scientific material, ammonia for manufacturing, or theft from a person.
• Grand larceny in the third degree (PL § 155.35). Class D felony. Value over $3,000, or theft of an ATM.
• Grand larceny in the second degree (PL § 155.40). Class C felony. Value over $50,000, or extortion using threats covered by PL § 155.05(2)(e).
• Grand larceny in the first degree (PL § 155.42). Class B felony. Value over $1 million.

Defenses

• Valuation. The market value of the property at the time and place of the taking is the controlling figure. Inflated retail valuations, depreciation, and resale-market analysis routinely move grand larceny cases down a grade.
• Intent. Larceny requires intent to deprive the owner permanently or for so extended a period as to appropriate the property. Borrowing, mistake of fact, and claim of right are real defenses.
• Claim of right. A good-faith claim to the property under PL § 155.15 is an affirmative defense.
• Identification and suppression. The standard constitutional defenses apply to every theft case.

White-Collar Grand Larceny

Embezzlement, employee theft, and contractor-fraud cases are typically charged as grand larceny. They turn on contract interpretation, the relationship between the parties, the timing of misrepresentations, and forensic-accounting analysis. The defense is built around the record, not the narrative.

Sentencing Exposure by Degree

Grand larceny sentencing is driven by the degree of the offense and the defendant’s prior record. A first-time defendant convicted of fourth-degree grand larceny (Class E felony) faces a maximum of 1–4 years in state prison but is eligible for a non-incarceratory sentence including a conditional discharge, probation, or a misdemeanor reduction. Third-degree (Class D) carries up to 2⅓–7 years. Second-degree (Class C) carries up to 5–15 years. First-degree (Class B) carries up to 8⅓–25 years. Predicate-felony status under PL § 70.06 raises every minimum and removes the no-jail option entirely.

The headline number rarely tells the story. Disposition is driven by the value of the loss, restitution, the defendant’s role, and the willingness of the complaining witness to be paid back rather than press for prison. We treat restitution and timing as defense tools, not concessions.

Valuation Is the Whole Case

Because the degree of grand larceny is set by dollar value, every grand larceny case is a valuation fight. PL § 155.20 defines value as the market value at the time and place of the crime, or, if that cannot be ascertained, the replacement cost within a reasonable time after the crime. That language is doing real work.

• Retail vs. wholesale. For commercial-theft cases, the relevant figure is what the property would sell for in the market in which it was taken — not the list price the store hoped to charge.
• Used and depreciated goods. The valuation date is the date of the taking. A two-year-old laptop is not valued at its original purchase price.
• Aggregation. PL § 155.30(1) lets the People aggregate takings committed pursuant to a single intent and one general fraudulent plan. We attack the “single intent” element when transactions are spread over time, locations, or victims.
• Inflated complaints. The valuation in the criminal court complaint is often a number provided by the complainant on the day of arrest. We get the underlying documents — invoices, inventory records, point-of-sale logs — and rebuild the number from scratch.

Moving a case from $3,001 to $2,999, or from $50,001 to $49,999, is the difference between a Class D and a Class E felony, or a Class C and a Class D. Those are the lines we work.

Embezzlement and Employee Theft

Embezzlement in New York is charged as grand larceny under PL § 155.05(2)(a), which covers a taking by an employee, agent, or fiduciary who comes into possession of the property lawfully but then converts it. These cases are typically built on the employer’s internal investigation: HR interviews, surveillance audits, transaction logs, and forensic accounting. The internal investigation often happens before the police are ever called.

If you are an employee being asked to attend an HR interview about missing money or merchandise, the conversation is not a neutral fact-finding exercise. Statements made to in-house counsel or to HR are not privileged from your perspective. They can be turned over to law enforcement. Bring counsel before you sit down. We have handled many cases at the pre-charge stage where the right response to an internal investigation kept the matter out of criminal court entirely.

Larceny by False Promise and by Trick

PL § 155.05(2)(d) defines larceny by false promise as obtaining property by means of a representation that the actor will engage in particular conduct in the future when the actor does not intend to do so. The statute expressly requires more than just a broken promise — the People must prove the actor’s state of mind at the time of the representation by evidence that excludes every other reasonable hypothesis. That is the highest sufficiency standard in the Penal Law. Most false-promise cases die on that requirement when the defense forces the People to articulate exactly what extra evidence establishes contemporaneous fraudulent intent.

Larceny by trick covers situations where the victim parts with possession of property but not title, induced by a misrepresentation. The line between trick and false promise is often where contractor-fraud cases are won or lost.

Extortion

PL § 155.05(2)(e) defines extortion. It is included in the larceny statute, which is why threats to expose information, threats of physical harm, and threats to use official position can all be charged as grand larceny regardless of dollar amount when the threats fall within the enumerated categories. Extortion-theory grand larcenies are usually charged as second-degree (Class C felony) under PL § 155.40(2). These cases turn on the wording of the threat, the relationship between the parties, and whether the defendant had a colorable claim of right under PL § 155.15.

Statute of Limitations

Under CPL § 30.10, the statute of limitations for a felony is generally five years. There is an extension for breach-of-fiduciary-duty cases — the limitations period does not begin to run until discovery of the offense, capped at additional years specified in the statute. For long-running embezzlement schemes, the discovery rule is often the difference between a viable prosecution and a barred one. We comb the records to fix the date the employer or the auditor actually knew.

Grand Jury Practice

Most grand larceny cases are felonies, which means they are presented to a grand jury under CPL Article 190. We file CPL § 190.50(5) notices early and decide case by case whether the client testifies. Where the case is document-heavy, a careful, prepared grand jury appearance can produce a no-true-bill or a reduction to a misdemeanor. Where the case is identification-driven, grand jury testimony is usually a mistake. See our page on grand jury practice for more.

Discovery and Suppression

Discovery in grand larceny cases under CPL Article 245 is broader than people expect. We demand the full forensic accounting workpapers, the complainant’s prior statements, all surveillance and access-card logs, and every communication between the complainant and law enforcement. Suppression motions in grand larceny cases typically target statements made during the internal investigation that were then handed to police (Huntley), and physical evidence seized from the defendant’s workspace, vehicle, or home (Mapp). The motions are often the leverage that produces a reasonable plea.

Immigration and Collateral Consequences

Grand larceny is a crime involving moral turpitude. A conviction with a sentence of one year or more — including a suspended sentence of one year or more — is an aggravated felony under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(G) and triggers mandatory deportation with no relief for lawful permanent residents. We structure pleas to keep the sentence below the one-year aggravated-felony threshold and to use non-CIMT alternatives where the People will agree.

Beyond immigration, a felony conviction terminates professional licenses, ends firearm rights, and disqualifies the client from many employment, housing, and immigration benefits. Sealing under CPL § 160.59 is available for some felony convictions after ten years, but exclusions apply. We evaluate sealing eligibility at the disposition stage so the plea is structured with future relief in mind.

Related Pages

For related charges, see theft, shoplifting, fraud, and criminal defense generally.

If you have been charged with grand larceny in New York, call us at 212-233-1233 or email [email protected].