1 On March 26th, 1998, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security jointly issued the Provisions on the Determination Standard of the Amount of Theft, which revised the standard of the amount of theft: (1) individuals stealing public or private property is a "large amount", starting from 500 yuan and ending at 2,000 yuan.
In this case, as long as your friend actively confesses and returns the stolen goods, he can be sentenced to probation without going to jail.