I'm not sure how they calculate the 'value of property or services stolen'. One could buy a laptop for under $500 and surf the web, no?
The services stolen in this case are the employee's paid for time. By surfing porn on city time he was depriving the city of $500-$5,000 worth ($2400, it looks like) of their employee's time. Ridiculous, I know.
From the article: "...theft of services in office (essentially for depriving the city of his paid services while he conducted the unauthorized activities on a city computer on city time)"
The services stolen in this case are the employee's paid for time. By surfing porn on city time he was depriving the city of $500-$5,000 worth ($2400, it looks like) of their employee's time. Ridiculous, I know.
From the article: "...theft of services in office (essentially for depriving the city of his paid services while he conducted the unauthorized activities on a city computer on city time)"