Severity, potential penalties of theft charges

From a young age, most of us have been taught not to take things that don't belong to us. While we may know this on the most basic level, sometimes things happen that can cause a person to be put in a situation in which they are accused of theft or a theft-related crime. Understanding the severity of the charge presented before a person means understanding Texas state law on the subject. So what does your theft charge mean in terms of the charge and the potential consequences?

In Texas, there are classes of misdemeanor thefts of A, B and C on the basic misdemeanor levels, with class A being the most serious. From there, there are felony levels of theft. If convicted of felony theft, it could carry a sentence of one year in jail or more if convicted. It's based on amount of alleged stolen property, starting from 1,500 up to 200,000 or more for the highest felony charge.

A person's circumstances could increase the level of severity one faces in a theft-related crime. If a person was in a position of trust, like a government official or school administrator, the penalty could be bumped up to the next felony level. This is true even if the alleged didn't hit the dollar amount threshold for the more severe charge.

Facing theft charges can be daunting and uncharted territory for most. However, there are ways to understand what you or a loved one is charged with. This will help a person plan how to proceed with building a criminal defense against theft allegations.