Throughout people’s lives in Florida they find themselves in different situations based on a number of different factors. Some of these factors are within people’s control and other times things change in people’s lives through circumstances out of their control. Also, sometimes people try to fix a bad situation and end up creating a bigger problem which may spiral out of control. When people find themselves in these situations they may become somewhat desperate and make poor decisions.
One of these poor decisions is that they may decide to take something that is not their property. If this occurs people may be charged with theft and face serious consequences as a result. The severity of the potential consequences depends on the amount people are accused of taking.
If the amount allegedly taken was over $100,000; the amount was over $50,000 and the property had entered the stream of commerce; or if people allegedly committed any grand theft and used a motor vehicle to commit the crime or caused at least $1,000 in property damage during the commission of the alleged crime could be guilty of grand theft in the first degree, which is a first degree felony.
If people are accused of taking less than $50,000 or medical equipment or law enforcement equipment valued at $300 or more they could be charged with grand theft in the second degree. Generally if the value of the property is more than $750 or is certain types of property people will be charged with a felony in the third degree. Anything else is a petit theft.
There are many different reasons that people in Florida may be accused of theft. There are also many different ways that a theft could be completed. However, just because people are charged with theft does not mean they are actually guilty and there could be defenses. One is that for a theft to be committed they must prove people had the intent to deprive people of their property which could be difficult in some situations. Consulting with an experienced attorney could be useful.