Embezzlement Sentencing Considerations in New York

Embezzlement is not a crime in the state of New York, there is no crime called embezzlement but it is a means by which a person commits a theft. 

Embezzlement is grand larceny, it is the wrongful taking, generally in business context, and it is identified generally by the appropriation of dollars and money the person is not entitled to for the person’s benefit or the benefit of someone else. 

 Embezzlement sentencing considerations in New York are guidelines that that provide a rubric that judges can refer to when sentencing people. If you face embezzlement charges, get in touch with an adept criminal defense lawyer who can fight to mitigate your sentence.

When someone embezzles in excess of a $1,000, if it is 155.30, it is grand larceny in the fourth-degree, if it is in excess of $3,000, it is grand larceny in the third-degree, 155.35, that is up to two and a third to seven years on a D felony, if it is in excess of $50,000, it is a C felony, that is grand larceny in the second-degree, and then ultimately grand larceny in the first-degree would be up to eight and a third to 25 years in prison.

These crimes often have other offenses associated with them, such as falsifying business records, which would be an E felony, 175.10 of the penal law where a person would be altering business records or modifying business records, deleting business records to cover up their frauds and every time the person did this, every time they made an alteration or failed to make an entry that would be a separate chargeable offense, whereas the grand larceny for embezzlement as long as it is the same context, that is involving the same party, that would be added up so if it is four years and 50 times the person did it, it would be aggregated over the course of the time.

Sentencing is generally stiff and harsh especially if someone is not able to make restitution. Embezzlement sentencing considerations in New York aside, there are few prosecutors and judges who will sympathize with the defendant or the circumstances that lead to their crime. Most prosecutors and judges are not wealthy themselves.

If someone says, that they were only making $70,000 a year, $40,000, or, $200,000 a year and they were stealing, prosecutors and judges are not making $200,000 and some prosecutors are making in the neighborhood of $70,000. Some more some less and they are not stealing. The perspective is, if a prosecutor or judge can make the same amount and follow the law, then there is no reason that the defendant cannot. There are alternative means to secure money, if someone needs it for legitimate reasons but embezzlement is not the way.

Sentencing is often stiff, and the court is often not very sympathetic to the alleged embezzler. embezzlement sentencing considerations in New York If someone embezzles $3,000 or less, it is up to one and a third to three years in prison.

Over $3,000 and no greater than $50,000 is up to two and third to seven years in prison; if it is more than $50,000, but no greater than a million, it is up to five to 15 years in prison; if it is in excess of a million, it is a mandatory minimum of one to three years and up to eight and a third to 25 years in prison.

If it is more than a year sentence, such as one and a third or five to fifteen years in prison, a person is going to state prison not a county jail. It is not a fun place to be and a person is not going with their mother and father or their children, or their neighbors and their friends, and no one is going to care that they have the nicest watch and they went to the fanciest dinners because they are going to get some garbage food and government surplus on a plastic tray while they are sitting in jail with potentially violent criminals, waiting and thinking about what they did.

A person can get probation, they can get what is called conditional discharge, meaning they pay restitution and stay out of trouble, but judges and DA's will often either ask for some incarceration. Even if a defendant avoids state prison and long term incarceration, if it is a year or less jail sentence it won’t be a cakewalk. No one wants to be on Riker's Island, no one wants to be in Westchester County Jail, these are scary, ugly, violent places.

When it comes to embezzlement, a person needs to be prepared from day one. Day one is not the first day of investigation or contact with law enforcement. Day one starts as soon as you begin to feel that things are escalating and heading towards a resolution that does not bode well for you. The moment that happens, you should get in contact with a lawyer. Do not wait for law enforcement to come to you.Be proactive and seek the legal counsel of an attorney who knows of all of the embezzlement sentencing considerations in New York, and can take them in into account when building your defense.