Theft / Larceny

Nobody wants to have their property stolen, and law enforcement agencies investigating certain kinds of theft crimes can charge alleged offenders with offenses that can range from misdemeanors to felonies. Anybody who is accused of a theft offense in Collin County will want to seek the help of an experienced theft/larceny attorney.

Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) statistics show that there were 461,421 theft or larceny offenses in 2020, which was a 7.0 percent decrease from the 496,279 such offenses in 2019. The total estimated value of reported property stolen during 2020 in Texas was $2,308,803,441, which included $236,259,660 in currency and notes, $115,293,371 in jewelry and precious metals, $51,054,927 in clothing and furs, $1,088,599,274 in locally stolen motor vehicles, $54,778,802 in office equipment, $28,253,239 worth of televisions, radios, and stereos, $32,709,991 in firearms, $27,718,517 in household goods, $17,428,975 in consumable goods, $2,785,425 worth of livestock, and $653,921,260 classified as miscellaneous.

Theft / Larceny Defense Lawyer in Plano, Allen, Frisco, and McKinney, TX

Contact the Law Offices of Richard C. McConathy today for a consultation about your alleged offense in Plano, Allen, Frisco, McKinney, TX, and surrounding areas of Collin County, Texas.

The Law Offices of Richard C. McConathy can fight to help you achieve the most favorable possible outcome to your case. Call (469) 304-3422 or contact us online so you can get a free consultation that will let us dig into the details of your case and explore what defense options you might have.

Theft / Larceny Charges in Collin County

Under Texas Penal Code § 31.03, a person commits a theft offense when they unlawfully appropriate any kind of property and have an intent to deprive the owner of that property. Appropriation of property is considered unlawful if: 

• it is without an owner’s effective consent;
• property is stolen and an alleged offender appropriates it knowing it was stolen; or
• the property was in the custody of any law enforcement agency and was explicitly represented by a law enforcement agent to an alleged offender as being stolen and an alleged offender appropriated the property believing it had been stolen by another party.

Texas Penal Code § 31.03(c) establishes that: 

• evidence that an alleged offender has previously participated in other recent transactions similar to the theft offense on which prosecution is based can be admissible to show knowledge or intent and the issues of knowledge or intent can be raised by an alleged offender’s plea of not guilty;

• the testimony of an accomplice can be corroborated by proof tending to connect the alleged offender to the offense, but an alleged offender’s knowledge or intent can also be established by the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice;

• an alleged offender who engages in some kind of business of buying and selling any kind of used or secondhand personal property, or lending money based on the security of personal property deposited with an alleged offender will be presumed to know upon receipt by an alleged offender of stolen property that property was previously stolen from another party when an alleged offender pays for or loans $25 or more against the property and an alleged offender knowingly or recklessly fails to record a name, address, and physical description or identification number (defined as a driver’s license number, military identification number, identification certificate, or other official number that is capable of identifying a person) for a seller or pledgor, fails to record some kind of complete description of the property, including a serial number when reasonably available, or some other kind of identifying characteristics, or fails to obtain some kind of signed warranty from a seller or pledgor that a seller or pledgor has a right to possess the property;  

• stolen property will not lose its character as stolen when it is recovered by any law enforcement agency;

• an alleged offender who is engaged in obtaining abandoned or wrecked motor vehicles or parts of abandoned or wrecked motor vehicles for resale, disposal, scrap, repair, rebuilding, demolition, or other form of salvage can be presumed to know on receipt by an alleged offender of stolen property that property was previously stolen from another party if an alleged offender knowingly or recklessly fails to maintain some kind of accurate and legible inventory of every motor vehicle component part purchased by or delivered to an alleged offender, including any date of purchase or delivery, a name, age, address, sex, and driver’s license number of a seller or person making the delivery, the license plate number of a motor vehicle in which a part was delivered, a complete description of a part, and a vehicle identification number of a motor vehicle from which a part was removed, or instead of maintaining an inventory, fails to record the name and certificate of inventory number of a person who dismantles a motor vehicle from which they obtain a part, fails on the receipt of a motor vehicle to obtain a required certificate of authority, sales receipt, or transfer document, or a certificate of title that shows that a motor vehicle is not subject to any lien or that every recorded lien on a motor vehicle has been released, or fails on receipt of a motor vehicle to immediately remove any unexpired license plate from a motor vehicle, to keep a plate in a secure and locked place, or to maintain an inventory on forms that are provided by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, of license plates kept, including for every plate or set of plates a license plate number and the applicable make, motor number, and vehicle identification number of the motor vehicle from which any plate was removed;

• an alleged offender who purchases or receives a used or secondhand motor vehicle can be presumed to know upon receipt of the motor vehicle that the motor vehicle was previously stolen from another party if the alleged offender either knowingly or recklessly fails to report to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles the failure of any person selling or delivering a motor vehicle to an alleged offender to deliver to the alleged offender a properly executed certificate of title to a motor vehicle at the time a motor vehicle is delivered, or failing to appropriately file with a county tax assessor-collector of the county in which an alleged offender receives a motor vehicle, not later than 20 days after the date an alleged offender receives a motor vehicle, the registration license receipt and certificate of title or other evidence of a title delivered to an alleged offender in accordance with Subchapter D of Chapter 520 of the Texas Transportation Code, at the time a motor vehicle is delivered;

• an alleged offender who purchases or receives any kind of restricted-use pesticide, state-limited-use pesticide, or a compound, mixture, or preparation that contains a restricted-use or state-limited-use pesticide from any party other than a licensed retailer or distributor of pesticides will be presumed to know upon receipt by an alleged offender of the pesticide or mixture, compound, or preparation that the pesticide or mixture, compound, or preparation was previously stolen from another party if the alleged offender fails to record the seller or pledgor’s name, address, and physical description, fails to record a complete description of the amount and type of pesticide or mixture, compound, or preparation purchased or received, and fails to obtain some kind of signed warranty from a seller or pledgor that a seller or pledgor has a right to possess the property; and 

• an alleged offender who obtains livestock from a commission merchant by representing that an alleged offender will make prompt payment can be presumed to have induced the commission merchant’s consent by deception when the alleged offender fails to make full payment.

Texas Penal Code § 31.03(d) further provides that it will not be a defense to a theft offense that:

• a crime occurred because of a deception or strategy on the part of a law enforcement agency, including any use of undercover operatives or peace officers;

• a law enforcement agency provided an alleged offender with a facility in which to commit a theft offense or an opportunity to engage in some kind of conduct constituting a theft offense; or 

• an alleged offender was solicited to commit the theft offense by a peace officer, and the solicitation was of a kind that would encourage a person predisposed to commit a theft offense to actually commit the theft offense, but would not encourage a person not predisposed to commit the offense to actually commit the theft offense.

A theft offense will be classified as:

• a Class C misdemeanor when property stolen is valued at less than $100

• a Class B misdemeanor when property stolen is valued at $100 or more but less than $750, the value of stolen property is less than $100 and an alleged offender has previous convictions for any grade of theft offense, or the property stolen is a driver’s license, commercial driver’s license (CDL), or personal identification certificate issued by this state or another state

• a Class A misdemeanor when property stolen is valued at $750 or more but less than $2,500

• a state jail felony when property stolen is valued at $2,500 or more but less than $30,000, property is less than 10 head of sheep, swine, or goats under the value of $30,000, the property, regardless of value, is stolen from the person of another party or from a human corpse or grave, including property that happens to be a military grave marker, the property stolen is a firearm, the value of property stolen is less than $2,500 and an alleged offender has two or more prior convictions for any kind of theft offense, the property stolen is an official ballot or official carrier envelope for an election, or the value of the property stolen is less than $20,000 and the property stolen happens to be aluminum, bronze, copper, or brass

• a third-degree felony when property stolen is valued at $30,000 or more but less than $150,000, or property stolen is cattle, horses, or exotic livestock or exotic fowl, and it is stolen during a single transaction while having an aggregate value of less than $150,000, 10 or more head of sheep, swine, or goats stolen during a single transaction and having an aggregate value of less than $150,000, or a controlled substance, with a value of less than $150,000, when it is stolen from a commercial building in which a controlled substance is generally stored, such as a pharmacy, clinic, hospital, nursing facility, or warehouse, or a vehicle owned or operated by a wholesale distributor of prescription drugs

• a second-degree felony when property stolen is valued at $150,000 or more but less than $300,000, or the value of property stolen is less than $300,000 and the property stolen is an automated teller machine (ATM) or the contents or components of an ATM

• a first-degree felony when property stolen is valued at $300,000 or more

A theft offense can be increased to the next higher category of offense when it is shown at trial that: 

• an alleged offender was a public servant at the time of a theft offense and the property appropriated came into an alleged offender’s custody, possession, or control by virtue of their status as some kind of public servant;

• an alleged offender was in some kind of contractual relationship with the government at the time of an alleged offense and the property appropriated came into an alleged offender’s custody, possession, or control by virtue of their contractual relationship;

• the owner of the appropriated property was at the time of an alleged offense an elderly person or nonprofit organization;

• the alleged offender was a Medicare provider in some kind of contractual relationship with the federal government at the time of an alleged offense and the property appropriated came into an alleged offender’s custody, possession, or control by virtue of their contractual relationship; or 

• during the commission of an alleged offense, an alleged offender intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly caused a fire exit alarm to sound or otherwise become activated, deactivated, or otherwise prevented a fire exit alarm or retail theft detector from sounding, or used a shielding or deactivation instrument to prevent or attempt to prevent detection of an alleged offense by a retail theft detector.

Theft / Larceny Penalties in Collin County

A conviction for a theft offense may be punishable by:

• Class C misdemeanor — Fine of up to $500

• Class B misdemeanor — Up to 180 days in jail and/or fine of up to $2,000

• Class A misdemeanor — Up to one year in jail and/or fine of up to $4,000

• State Jail Felony — Up to two years in state jail and/or fine of up to $10,000

• Third-Degree Felony — Up to 10 years in prison and/or fine of up to $10,000

• Second-Degree Felony — Up to 20 years in prison and/or fine of up to $10,000

• First-Degree Felony — Up to 99 years or life in prison and/or fine of up to $10,000

Collin County Theft / Larceny Resources 

5 North Texas cities rank among the safest in the U.S., a new study shows — The Dallas Morning News reported on April 14, 2021, that Frisco, McKinney and Plano ranked second, third and fifth in a study of the top 10 safest cities in the nation. Personal finance website SmartAsset compared safety in 200 cities with five data points that included city violent crime rates, city property crime rates, county vehicular mortality rates, county drug poisoning mortality rates and the percentage of each county’s population that reported drinking in excess. Frisco came in at No. 2 because of its low violent crime rate, which ranked No. 4 nationwide with 80 violent crimes per every 100,000 residents, although McKinney and Plano had higher violent crime rates.

Collin County, TX Theft Rates and Theft Maps | CrimeGrade.org — View a map of theft rates and maps in Collin County from neighborhood information website CrimeGrade.org. Collin County has an A- grade overall, but a B grade for theft crimes, which means the rate of theft is slightly lower than the average American county. The website states that the rate of theft in Collin County is 8.88 per 1,000 residents during a typical year, and people living in Collin County generally consider the east part of the county to be the safest for this type of crime.

Find A Collin County Attorney to Fight Theft / Larceny Charges | Law Offices of Richard C. McConathy

Are you facing criminal charges relating to an alleged theft offense in Collin County? Contact the Law Offices of Richard C. McConathy today for a consultation about your alleged offense in Plano, Allen, Frisco, McKinney, TX, and surrounding areas of Collin County, Texas.

The Law Offices of Richard C. McConathy regularly handles all different grades of theft offenses, so we know how to fight both misdemeanor and felony charges. You can call (469) 304-3422 or contact us online to set up a consultation so your firm can review your case and discuss all of your legal options.