If you are convicted of aiding and abetting a crime under Penal Code 31 PC, you will receive the same punishment as someone who actually committed that crime.
This is because “aiding and abetting” is not actually a separate crime under the California Penal Code. Instead, as criminal defense lawyers know, it is a legal principle under which responsibility for a crime is shared equally among everybody who participated in perpetrating it.
So, if you aid and abet a crime, you are basically considered to have perpetrated that crime–and will face the same consequences as the person who actually committed it.
Here is an example: let’s say a woman is planning to commit burglary of her neighbor’s house. She lets her boyfriend know about her plans. He tells her he thinks that’s a great idea and gives her some tools that she can use to break into the house. Under PC 31, California’s aiding and abetting law, both the woman and her boyfriend will face criminal penalties under PC 459, California’s burglary law.
