need help with grand larceny charge

[lfibonacci]

Hello,
my grandson has been charged with grand larceny, arrested, and released on a $1,500.00 bond. This happened last monday, and he has a court date for next tuesday. We have been unable to find a good attorney on such short notice, and I'm wondering if the judge can deny him an extension to find an attorney, and judge him right next tuesday.

That was my first question. My next question is what is the difference between a simple larceny and a grand larceny in terms of possible penalty to be served. I have been told that anything stolen worth over $200 is considered grand larceny.

My next question: can a grand larceny charge be brought down to a simple larceny? In this specific case 4 kids have been accused of have stolen goods for about $250, and I'm wondering if a good attorney could present the case as each one of them acted indipendently from each other, so that none of them stole more than $100 worth of goods. Could this be done, or it would still be considered a grand larceny?
In this particular case there's a witness claiming to have bought some of the stolen goods from 3 of these kids (my grandson was NOT one of them).
He swears he's not involved, and doesn't know anything about this.
Even if it is a relief to know that he did not sell any of the stolen goods, I know that the night the larceny took place, he was hanging out with these 3 kids. I'm afraid that he knows something, and he's trying to cover up his friends, but he's the only one already on probation (DUI), the only one that is risking to be kicked out of college on top of everthing else, and the only one who is willing to settle this thing out of court,if possible; but we have been told that even if the attorneys find an agreement, there's no guarantee that the judge will not continue to prosecute him, because this is a felony.
Is it true?
How can a bunch of priests pedophiles get away with their crimes after having reached a $600 million reimbursement agreement, and at the same time a bunch of kids stealing less than $100 each risk to be jailed?
Thanks for any reply/suggestion.

Leo

[msgny]

You can ask for an extension yes--Make sure you or he hires counsel (or at least the public defender) to try to keep this off the record eventually--jail time is not likely going to occur if his record is clear now. But having that arrest and/or a conviction on the record will make job-hunting etc. more difficult. Often this could be negotiated down to some kind of court supervision, a dismissal etc. If it eventually appears it cannot be negotiated down, or he (or you) needs to discuss this in more detail with senior counsel to review options etc., please let us know...