Fairfax Grand Larceny Attorney

Grand larceny is Virginia’s felony theft charge. Under Virginia Code § 18.2-95 it covers taking property worth $1,000 or more, taking money or property worth $5 or more directly from a person, and taking any firearm regardless of its value. A conviction carries up to 20 years in prison and a felony record, even though many cases involve a single incident at a store, a workplace or a friend’s home and a person who has never been in trouble before. This page explains what the Commonwealth has to prove, where the line between grand and petit larceny falls, how shoplifting is charged, where these cases are usually decided, what the penalties and record consequences are, and how we handle them in Fairfax County and the surrounding courts.

At a glance

• The charge: grand larceny, § 18.2-95: larceny from the person of $5 or more, simple larceny of goods worth $1,000 or more, or larceny of any firearm.
• The penalty: one to 20 years in a state correctional facility, or, in the discretion of the jury or the judge trying the case without a jury, up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500, either or both.
• The record: a felony conviction, whatever sentence is imposed, because Virginia defines a felony as an offense punishable by confinement in a state correctional facility (§ 18.2-8). A grand larceny conviction may be sealed by petition after a ten-year waiting period under § 19.2-392.12.
• Petit larceny: below those lines the charge is petit larceny, a Class 1 misdemeanor under § 18.2-96. Our petit larceny page covers it.
• The court: in Fairfax County an adult felony charge ordinarily begins with a preliminary hearing in the General District Court and, if certified, is tried in the Circuit Court; a direct indictment can start the case in Circuit Court instead. The Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court handles charges against juveniles.

What the Commonwealth Must Prove

Larceny in Virginia is defined by the courts rather than by a single statute: the wrongful taking and carrying away of personal property that belongs to someone else, without the owner’s consent, with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of it. The Supreme Court of Virginia restated the elements in Carter v. Commonwealth (2010): the intent to steal has to exist at the moment the property is taken and moved, and the property does not have to leave the store. Grand larceny adds a grading element. The prosecutor must prove every one of these beyond a reasonable doubt.

• A taking of property belonging to another. The property has to be someone else’s. A genuine dispute about who owns the item, or a genuine belief that you had a right to it, goes to the heart of the charge.
• Without consent. Taking something with the owner’s permission is not larceny, even if a disagreement develops later about what was agreed. When an allegation is that someone went beyond the permission they had, the question is what was actually authorized.
• Intent to permanently deprive the owner. Larceny requires a specific intent at the time of the taking. Walking out of a store with an item you forgot was in your hand is a different situation from taking something to keep, and intent is usually proved by circumstances rather than by a confession. Carter also shows the limit: a plan to give the property back only if you were paid for it is not a defense.
• Value, or the facts that replace it. For most grand larceny charges the Commonwealth must prove that the property was worth $1,000 or more at the time it was taken, usually through receipts, price tags, business records, testimony or an appraisal. When the property was taken directly from a person, the threshold is $5. When the property is a firearm, value does not matter.

Value is often the most contested part of a case, because the difference between $999 and $1,000 is the difference between a misdemeanor and a felony. The Commonwealth carries the burden of proving it.

Grand Larceny and Petit Larceny: Where the Line Falls

Virginia raised the felony threshold from $200 to $500 in 2018 and to $1,000 in 2020, so older articles and even some older summons forms describe a line that no longer exists. Today:

• § 18.2-96, petit larceny: larceny from the person of less than $5, or simple larceny not from the person of goods worth less than $1,000. Class 1 misdemeanor: up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500, either or both.
• § 18.2-95, grand larceny: larceny from the person of $5 or more, simple larceny not from the person of $1,000 or more, or larceny of any firearm. Felony: one to 20 years, or up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500 in the discretion of the court or jury.

“From the person” means taken from the victim’s body or immediate custody and control, such as a wallet from a pocket or a phone from a hand, which is why a theft of a few dollars in that setting can be charged as a felony. Until 2021 Virginia also made a third larceny conviction a felony regardless of value; that statute, § 18.2-104, was repealed effective July 1, 2021, so prior petit larceny convictions no longer turn a new misdemeanor theft into a felony by themselves, although they still matter at sentencing.

Shoplifting and Concealment

Shoplifting is not a separate crime in Virginia. § 18.2-103 treats concealing merchandise, taking possession of it, altering a price tag or price marking, or moving goods from one container to another, with intent to convert the goods without paying full price, as larceny: petit larceny if the goods are worth less than $1,000, grand larceny if they are worth $1,000 or more. The same section says that willful concealment of goods while still on the store’s premises is prima facie evidence of intent to convert and defraud, so a person can be charged before leaving the store. Store loss-prevention video, the recovered merchandise and the store’s price records are usually the Commonwealth’s main evidence. Stores may also send a separate civil demand letter; our petit larceny page explains how those letters relate to the criminal case.

Where Larceny Cases Are Decided

Most grand larceny cases come down to a few questions, and each one connects to something the Commonwealth has to prove. These are the ones we go through first.

Can the Commonwealth prove the value? The value that matters is the value of the property at the time it was taken, and the Commonwealth has to prove it with admissible evidence sufficient to establish value at the time of the taking. An owner’s admissible opinion may estimate that value. A store’s shelf price is one measure; a used item, a damaged item or an item the store itself discounts may be worth less. When several items are involved, we look at whether they were taken in one act or several, because that affects whether the amounts can be added together. For ordinary theft not from the person and not involving a firearm, failure to prove $1,000 can defeat grand-larceny grading; the Commonwealth must still prove the remaining theft elements.

What was the intent, and when? Under Carter the intent to steal has to exist when the property is taken. A forgotten item in a cart, a misunderstanding about whether something was paid for, a dispute between roommates or former partners about who owns what, or a belief that you had a right to the property all go to intent. The court looks at the circumstances before and after the taking. Leaving without paying may support an inference of intent to steal. A prompt, unconditional effort to return an item may support a different explanation, although returning property does not undo a larceny already completed.

Was there consent? Many larceny allegations grow out of relationships: an employer and employee, family members, a landlord and tenant, a lender and borrower. When the owner gave permission to use or hold the property, the question is what the permission covered and whether the Commonwealth has charged the right offense, because fraudulent conversion of entrusted property implicates embezzlement and its distinct elements. Under § 18.2-111, proof of embezzlement can sustain a larceny charge, so entrustment alone does not establish a charging error.

Who took it? In a shoplifting case the loss-prevention officer’s account and the store video are the identification evidence, and we watch the video rather than rely on the summary. In other cases, identification may rest on a single witness, a photograph or possession of the property afterward, each of which has its own limits.

What does the concealment presumption actually prove? Under § 18.2-103, willful concealment inside the store is prima facie evidence of intent. The inference concerns intent; it does not establish every element or shift the Commonwealth’s ultimate burden of proof. It can be addressed by the evidence of what you did with the item, where you were headed, and whether the concealment was willful at all.

When the evidence does support the charge, the work turns to the outcome, and the law gives the court and the prosecutor several places to land. The prosecutor may amend a grand larceny charge to petit larceny where the value evidence or the circumstances warrant it. The court or jury may impose the jail-or-fine alternative in § 18.2-95 rather than prison. Virginia’s first-offender deferred disposition for property crimes, § 19.2-303.2, is written for misdemeanor property offenses and does not apply to a grand larceny charge as charged, but it may come into play if a charge is resolved as petit larceny. Returning the property, paying restitution and a clear account of the circumstances matter at every one of those points. We keep that work separate from the question of whether the Commonwealth can prove the felony, and we explain both paths to you.

Penalties and Sentencing

Grand larceny is an unclassified felony with its own range: one to 20 years in a state correctional facility, or, in the discretion of the jury or the court trying the case without a jury, confinement in jail for up to 12 months and a fine of up to $2,500, either or both. There is no mandatory minimum. The sentence imposed depends on the facts, the value involved, whether property was returned, restitution, and the person’s record, and Virginia’s sentencing guidelines inform the court’s decision in Circuit Court. A sentence of probation or jail time rather than prison does not change the nature of the conviction: because the offense is punishable by confinement in a state correctional facility, a grand larceny conviction is a felony conviction under § 18.2-8 however the sentence is structured.

Related Theft Charges

Grand larceny is often charged alongside, or instead of, other theft offenses that are graded the same way:

• Embezzlement, § 18.2–111: wrongfully and fraudulently using or disposing of money or property that was entrusted to you, such as an employee handling a register or a company account. Proof of embezzlement sustains a charge of larceny, and it is punished under §§ 18.2-95 and 18.2-96 by the same value lines.
• Obtaining money or property by false pretenses, § 18.2-178: obtaining money or property by a false representation with intent to defraud, punished as larceny of the property obtained.
• Forgery and uttering, § 18.2-172: an offense with its own Class 5 felony classification, independent of the larceny value thresholds, that may accompany a larceny charge when a check or other document was altered or passed.

Each charge has its own elements, and the Commonwealth must prove each one separately.

What a Conviction Means for Your Record

A grand larceny conviction is a felony conviction. It can affect employment and professional licensing, firearm rights, voting rights, security clearances and immigration status, and it appears on background checks. It is not expunged: expungement under § 19.2-392.2 is for charges that ended without a conviction, and not every dismissal qualifies. A dismissal following a deferred disposition is not automatically eligible for ordinary expungement. Under Virginia’s record-sealing law, a conviction under § 18.2-95 may be sealed by petition after a ten-year waiting period, measured from the latest qualifying event, if the applicable conviction-free period and other eligibility conditions in § 19.2-392.12 are met; the statute names § 18.2-95 and offenses punished under it expressly. Sealing limits public access to the record rather than destroying it. Our record sealing page explains the current law.

How We Handle a Grand Larceny Case

We start with the evidence the Commonwealth will rely on: the store or business records, the surveillance video, the value evidence, the statements the police say you made, and how the property was identified and recovered. We look closely at intent and at value, because those two elements decide whether there is a felony case at all, and we tell you candidly what the evidence shows, what the realistic paths are and what is still uncertain. Fees vary by charge; we tell you the fee before you hire us, and court fines and costs are separate. Any restitution obligation is separate from our fee.

Benjamin Schaefer has practiced criminal defense in Virginia for more than 15 years and handles larceny and other theft cases for the firm. Our office is in Fairfax, across the street from the county courthouse, and we appear in the Fairfax County General District Court and Circuit Court regularly and understand how larceny cases move through those courts. Our four attorneys are in the courthouses of Prince William in Manassas, Arlington and Loudoun in Leesburg almost every day, and we represent clients on theft charges there and in other Northern Virginia courts. Benjamin Schaefer is a member of the Prince William County Bar Association. He and Ryan Rambudhan started the firm in 2014.

Frequently Asked Questions

Talk With a Fairfax Grand Larceny Lawyer

If you have been charged with grand larceny, or a store or the police have contacted you about missing property, talk with a lawyer before you talk with anyone else. At NOVADefenders we will go through the charge, the value evidence and what the Commonwealth has to prove, and tell you what we think. Our criminal defense page covers the other charges we handle.

Call 703.273.6431 at any hour and you will speak with a real person. The consultation is free, and you can also contact us online.

Reviewed by attorney Benjamin Schaefer | Updated October 19, 2026