So I've been looking at Grand Larceny and apparently the maximum punishment is 10 years in prison - which as a business person and property owner, helps me by having a harsher punishment and should protect me by deterring criminals.
But it seems that it has to be worth at least $500 to count. But what defines the value of a product? Is it:
1. the price the purchaser paid?
2. the price it could be bought for on eBay during the theft (in a similar condition)
3. the cost of replacing the stolen item (could be much higher than purchase price)?
4. damage resulting from the theft?
Consider which scenarios would be considered grand larceny:
5. What if (might be a crazy scenario) someone steals something with a low value but a high installation cost, e.g., electrical wiring worth only $10 of scrap, but cost $510 for an electrician to install?
6. What if someone steals that same electrical wiring worth only $10 in scrap and only cost an electrician $200 last year to install, but it will cost $510 for an electrician to fix?
7. What if (same electrical wiring analogy) the wiring didn't cause much to install/fix, but the lack of electrical wiring caused property damage of over $10,000? (maybe it was a supermarket and their food spoiled)
8. What if a product is sold for $100, but the customer has to pay $360 per year for two years of service under a contract (e.g., a 4G hotspot)? (the product's actual value is $200)
9. What if a product is for $100, but if it gets lost or stolen, the customer has to pay $600 according to a contract they signed (maybe they were specialized electronics that could be dangerous in the wrong hands, or the purchaser had a special discount)
10. What if a product is sold for $800, but by the time of the theft, it lost value (maybe it was an iPhone or something) and can be bought on eBay for $300?
11. What if a product (e.g., a laptop computer) is sold for $400, but has intellectual property or other sensitive documents (e.g., financial information of thousands of clients) on the hard drive worth $100,000? Does it matter if the drive is encrypted and there is no evidence the criminal was or was not able to access it?
How likely could a criminal that stole $600 worth of property spend 10 years in prison, with experienced lawyers on both sides (or on only one side)? Seems like plenty of criminals just get a slap on the wrist and we're paying for it

