Am I Going to Jail for Shoplifting

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Maryland

I returned $497.00 worth of merchandise to Best Buy, but I was only caught stealing $197.00. The extra $300 worth, I returned hoping it would show the judge some sort of positive character on my part (knowing the financial consequences of doing so). I'm also on probation for a DUI I received a little over a year ago :(

How screwed am I? I have nothing else on my record, and am a full-time college student with a 4.0 GPA.

How badly is the DUI charge going to hurt me, and is there anything I can do before my court date that will help my case? (Other than getting a lawyer.)

If you think jail time is mandatory, how long would you guess I'll be there? Also, would there be any chance for house arrest?

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Quoting Horripilation

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My question involves criminal law for the state of: Maryland

I returned $497.00 worth of merchandise to Best Buy, but I was only caught stealing $197.00. The extra $300 worth, I returned hoping it would show the judge some sort of positive character on my part (knowing the financial consequences of doing so). I'm also on probation for a DUI I received a little over a year ago :(

How screwed am I? I have nothing else on my record, and am a full-time college student with a 4.0 GPA.

How badly is the DUI charge going to hurt me, and is there anything I can do before my court date that will help my case? (Other than getting a lawyer.)

If you think jail time is mandatory, how long would you guess I'll be there? Also, would there be any chance for house arrest?

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and am a full-time college student with a 4.0 GPA.

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I suspect the judge won't believe you since stealing is not a smart thing to do. It doesn't matter anyway. You do not get points for having a high GPA.

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How badly is the DUI charge going to hurt me, and is there anything I can do before my court date that will help my case? (Other than getting a lawyer.)

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I suspect this is going to hurt your probation in that case more than the other way around.

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The extra $300 worth, I returned hoping it would show the judge some sort of positive character on my part (knowing the financial consequences of doing so)

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so, do ya think that if I kidnapped 5 people and I was going to kill all of them but got caught after killing only 2 and told the cops where the others were tied up shows positive character? Not stealing at all shows positive character. Returning stolen merchandise shows you thought doing so might help reduce penalty for what you got caught stealing.



what is the actual specific charge?

I don't know what you mean by what the "actual specific charge" is. It's under $500 so it's 2nd tier larceny.

The penalty is $500 and/or 18 months.

(And sure, the $300 was an effort to reduce my penalty. I won't argue your semantics. Though your metaphor was fairly poor. It would more be like if I had kidnapped 7 people and they only knew about 3 of them, but I returned them all. Either way, it's a moot point.)

It depends how strict the po,judge and Da are,did your probation officer volatile you? With a lawyer you probably have a shot at extending your probation or some type of no jail plea,speak to a local lawyer who is familiar with the local da judges.

What area of md are you in? Some areas leave it up to the LP to charge you. Also a felony is $1000. Ask for a pbj and if you do not get it, ask for a continuance and get a lawyer.

Definitely worth your time to talk to a lawyer in this instance. It sounds like its not a felony but the DUI history obviously works against you.

PBJ when he's already on probation? Unlikely, he needs a lawyer from the git go.

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Quoting bam!

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What area of md are you in? Some areas leave it up to the LP to charge you. Also a felony is $1000. Ask for a pbj and if you do not get it, ask for a continuance and get a lawyer.

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I'm in Montgomery County. Sorry if it's a stupid question, but what does LP stand for?

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Quoting tc498

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It depends how strict the po,judge and Da are,did your probation officer volatile you? With a lawyer you probably have a shot at extending your probation or some type of no jail plea,speak to a local lawyer who is familiar with the local da judges.

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I don't check in to my probation officer until February. I'm set up on the kiosk so I never even interact with her.

So it seems pretty unanimous that a lawyer is needed. Unfortunately I don't quite have the funds for that at the moment. What are your collective thoughts on a public defender? That's what I had for my DUI, and it turned out alright, but is something like this not worth risking on them? It isn't a matter of defending my case as much as making a plea bargain, because I've already essentially admitted guilt.

If you cannot afford a lawyer, definitely ask for a PD. You have to qualify for one so, if you can afford your own, you likely won't qualify and vice versa (but they determine if you qualify or not).

A pd is just as much a lawyer as any other lawyer in the state. The biggest problem is they are often overworked so that means they do not have as much time to spend on a case as a private lawyer does.

So you have a 4.0 gpa? Then you're smart enough to know better than to shoplift.

It's not going to help you in court.

Lp is for loss prevention.

MD is different about theft. People can get theft on a stet or inactive docket or pbj with other offenses. It's worth a shot. Call the office of the pd at least ten days before your court date.

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Quoting cbg

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So you have a 4.0 gpa? Then you're smart enough to know better than to shoplift.

It's not going to help you in court.

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You would think.

Will my current enrollment as a full-time student? I would think a judge might be less likely to throw me in jail if it would cause me to fail all my classes, but I don't really know.

Also, just so I have an idea of what to brace myself for if jail is in my imminent future, what would the boarders of this site guess the duration of that to look like? I know it's impossible to say anything with any sort of certainty, but based on your collective experience what ballpark am I looking at?

The judge does not care one whit whether you are in school or not, full time, part time or at all. It is completely irrelevant to the fact that you are a thief. Your school schedule and your grade point average are of no consequence and if you fail all your classes because you are in jail, that is not his concern.

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Quoting cbg

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The judge does not care one whit whether you are in school or not, full time, part time or at all. It is completely irrelevant to the fact that you are a thief. Your school schedule and your grade point average are of no consequence and if you fail all your classes because you are in jail, that is not his concern.

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Do you feel better now?

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Quoting Horripilation

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Do you feel better now?

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Do you?

cbg gave you the honest truth in response to your statement immediately prior. You know, this one:

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I would think a judge might be less likely to throw me in jail if it would cause me to fail all my classes, but I don't really know.

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Why would you be offended by somebody giving you an honest and realistic answer?

If anything, a judge may come down harder on such a wonderful student because that wonderful student is expected to know better and may be held - at least informally - to a higher standard.

I will feel better when I see some kind of acknowledgement that the world does not have to give you a pass on responsibility because you are a good student. You may be the brightest kid on the block (though you're probably not) but you weren't smart enough to take a pass on thievery. You thought you were smart enough to get away with it, you weren't, and now you want to use your GPA to avoid taking responsibility for your actions.

Quite frankly, I don't give a damn if you go to jail or not, though it might be the only way to get it through your head that the law applies to kids with 4.0 averages too. But I'm getting damned sick of the number of thieves who post here thinking that their GPA is a get out of jail free card, and then get snarky when they're told that it isn't.

They have not come to the understanding because they still sign loan papers and are given thousands to live and party on. In addition to what mommy n daddy provide.

I'll say it again too...

That 4.0 means you are smart enough to know that shoplifting is wrong.

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Quoting PandorasBox

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I'll say it again too...

That 4.0 means you are smart enough to know that shoplifting is wrong.

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I guess that the actions prove the 4.0 was undeserved then.

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Quoting jk

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I guess that the actions prove the 4.0 was undeserved then.

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I have heard that is the problem with internet college. It give people a false sense on intelligence.

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Quoting cbg

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I will feel better when I see some kind of acknowledgement that the world does not have to give you a pass on responsibility because you are a good student. You may be the brightest kid on the block (though you're probably not) but you weren't smart enough to take a pass on thievery. You thought you were smart enough to get away with it, you weren't, and now you want to use your GPA to avoid taking responsibility for your actions.

Quite frankly, I don't give a damn if you go to jail or not, though it might be the only way to get it through your head that the law applies to kids with 4.0 averages too. But I'm getting damned sick of the number of thieves who post here thinking that their GPA is a get out of jail free card, and then get snarky when they're told that it isn't.

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I got snarky at your tone, not your opinion. And for the record, I never implied that I thought my GPA was any sort of get out of jail free card; I simply put what I had on the table and asked if anyone thought it would make a difference. Get off your high horse you internet warrior, and stop preaching to me about how what I did was wrong. I'm aware of it. I created this thread for advice on how I could present my case in such a way as to avoid having the book thrown at me, not to get lectured by condescending pricks.

Also, I'm not a thief by nature. There were a number of mitigating factors that greatly affected my decision to do something crazy that night; I think of it as the perfect storm. But I digress. Thank you for being so unhelpful.

No. Your GPA will not make any difference.

And I do not volunteer here to help people avoid taking the consequences of their actions. There are NO mitigating circumstances that makes thievery acceptable. If that's your goal, pay a lawyer to do it.