Learn About The Crime of Stealing Power That is Related to a Marijuana Grow in Los Angeles
I've represented a number of people who have been charged with stealing power and this really implicates a lot of issues when it comes to a criminal case in Los Angeles county.
First and foremost, it's a crime and if the dollar amount is of $950.00 it can be charged as a felony theft crime. Nobody wants to have a felony on their record and if it's a significant amount of power that's been stolen, the individual can really have a big problem.
The issue becomes how are they stealing the power, number one, and how can it be protected? Number two, who are they stealing the power from? Is it from the electronic company like the Department of Water and Power in Los Angeles or is it from one of their neighbors.
Investigation of High Electricity Use
The reason that people seem to be stealing power is because marijuana grows cause a huge amount of electricity to be drawn and obviously, it's costly, number one.
Number two, I think the reasoning is that they don't want to be detected if they have a marijuana grow because that is one of the indicators that someone's power is much more significant than their neighbors.
What really doesn't make sense to me as a criminal defense attorney doing this for 26 years, is how they would think that would cause them not to be detected. I think it would make it twice as likely they would be detected if they were stealing the power from their neighbor related to a marijuana grow in Los Angeles because the neighbor's going to see that their bills are significant.
They're obviously going to go to the power company and try to figure out why their bills are so high. Then, obviously the power company will come out and investigate or the neighbor whose power is being stolen can hire an electrician to investigate.
Then they'll find out that way that their power is being stolen and if the neighbor is investigated by the Department of Water and Power related to stealing power, then they're probably going to come out and check and see that the neighbor is not doing anything wrong and the power is probably being stolen at the source.
The neighbor doesn't realize that their power is being stolen except for the higher bill.
Developing a Defense Strategy for Best Outcome
So, if you or a loved one is being charged with stealing power just by itself, or if you're being charged with stealing power related to a cultivation of marijuana case inside a residence in Los Angeles, pick up the phone.
Make the call. We will (1) see if there's any way to defend you to try to prove that you didn't have anything to do with stealing the power; (2) or if we can't completely defend you, obviously we'll try to figure out a way that we could mitigate things for you and try to avoid a felony.
One big issue in these stealing power cases is restitution. In other words, paying the people back the lost money, whether it be the homeowner that whose power was stolen, or whether it be the city whose power was stolen.
So, if you need a criminal defense attorney that's familiar with this area of the law, pick up the phone. Make the call. We stand a the ready to help you.
Hedding Law Firm is a criminal defense law firm located in Los Angeles County at 16000 Ventura Blvd #1208 Encino, CA 91436. Contact our firm for a free case evaluation at (213) 542-0979.
