"In most cases, the offense of grand theft in California is a wobbler. This means that the prosecutor may choose to charge you with either misdemeanor or felony grand theft.
The maximum potential sentence for misdemeanor grand theft is up to one (1) year in county jail.
For felony grand theft, you may be sentenced to sixteen (16) months, two (2) years, or three (3) years of incarceration."
I got the above from a law site. To further bad news.....dirtbag might only get hit with only one count of Grand Theft. for each person he stole from. It goes like this: If he was stealing slowly from say Ranch Obiwon, it doesnt matter if its $1,000 or $100,000 total, the defense can claim it was part of an 'overall scheme' to steal from that person. Now if the DA can prove he did this to three people, then he will get hit with three charges for grand theft. The 'overall scheme' is the language thats the barrier to sending him away for years.
It gets worse. With the current overcrowding in California jails, and non violent nature of his crimes, there is a good chance he will never see the inside of a jail cell and be put on probation with restitution.