Criminal Defense Attorney Louisiana West Monroe

If you’re facing a theft charge, the dollar value alleged is what actually determines how serious it is under La. R.S. 14:67: under $1,000 is a misdemeanor (up to 6 months, up to $1,000), but $1,000 or more becomes a felony, climbing from up to 5 years for $1,000-$5,000, up to 10 years for $5,000-$25,000, and up to 20 years at hard labor once the value hits $25,000 or more. If you’ve been charged with battery, the specific statute matters a great deal: simple battery under La. R.S. 14:35 tops out at 6 months and a $1,000 fine, while aggravated battery, meaning a dangerous weapon was involved, under La. R.S. 14:34 can mean up to 10 years and a $5,000 fine. If the charge is domestic abuse battery under La. R.S. 14:35.3, Louisiana treats it more seriously from the start: mandatory jail time applies even on a first offense, and a fourth offense escalates all the way to 10 to 30 years. A drug possession charge’s real exposure in Louisiana depends heavily on what’s involved: marijuana at 14 grams or less has been decriminalized down to a $100 fine with no jail exposure since 2021 (La. R.S. 40:966(E)), a genuinely different track than other Schedule I substances, which can still carry up to 10 years at hard labor and a $5,000 fine under the same statute. Louisiana calls it OWI rather than DUI or DWI, and the penalties under La. R.S. 14:98 climb fast with each offense inside a 10-year lookback window: a first offense is a misdemeanor (10 days to 6 months), a second still a misdemeanor but with real mandatory jail exposure, and a third jumps straight to a felony, 1 to 5 years and a $2,000 fine. By a fourth offense, the exposure reaches 10 to 30 years and a $5,000 fine, with a BAC of 0.15% or higher triggering additional mandatory penalties regardless of offense count. A weapons charge under La. R.S. 14:95 (illegal carrying of weapons) looks different than it did before 2024: since Louisiana adopted permitless concealed carry that year, most adults 18 or older who are legally allowed to own a firearm can carry one concealed without a permit, so a charge today usually turns on being underage, being barred from possessing a firearm at all, carrying in a restricted location, or failing to notify an officer of a concealed weapon during a stop. A first offense tops out at 6 months and a $500 fine, a second conviction can reach 5 years, a third up to 10 years, and using a firearm while committing a separate violent or drug crime adds its own 5-to-10-year mandatory enhancement. Burglary and robbery carry some of the heaviest exposure in Louisiana’s criminal code. Simple burglary under La. R.S. 14:62, unauthorized entry into a home, vehicle, or other structure with intent to commit a felony or theft inside, is punishable by up to 12 years at hard labor and a $2,000 fine, and being armed with a firearm during the burglary raises the mandatory minimum to 3 years. Armed robbery under La. R.S. 14:64, taking property from another person by force or intimidation while armed with a dangerous weapon, is far more severe: a mandatory minimum of 10 years at hard labor and up to 99 years, with no parole, probation, or suspended sentence available at any point.