$100 Retail Theft in Illinois

In early December of 2016 I was caught shoplifting, first offence, about $100 from Marshall's. I was stopped just before the door, the bag that I had the products in was taken from me and I was led to a back room. They took the items out of the bag (just over $100) and I signed a document saying I admit to the theft of merchandise, hoping they would let me go if I did because I didn't have any of the items anymore. They then called the police and I got a ticket for "Retail Theft $150 and Under" that was a $100 fine. I was then told to leave the store, I did not even look back to see if anyone was escorting me because I just wanted to get out of there. I paid the ticket online right away when I got home and I was hoping my bad decision was dealt with. About two weeks later I got a letter from a Law Office which basically said, " This letter is a demand that you pay $250 in satisfaction of this civil claim ". I talked with my parents about it and they said to wait and see if they send another letter. It has almost been a month and I finally got a second notice. It says that if I do not pay the $250 in 10 days Marshall's may make a further effort to enforce its rights under the law. What exactly can they do? I know that retailers cannot levy fines against a person, only a court can do that. On top of that, I don't even have any of the products anymore so why would they bring me to court, that just seems like a huge waste of money for them. Any help would be great. Also a side note, I just remembered that when the cop came he asked the guy who stopped me in the store when/where he caught me and he said he followed me to the parking lot. That was not true because I was stopped before I left the store, does that change anything because I never left the store or is the punishment the same either way?

You committed the act of theft when you exerted control over the item with the intent to deprive the lawful owner of it. It matters not whether you were successful or where you were caught. If you stuffed it down your pants they could have had you arrested immediately.

As for the civil demand, this is an amount that allows the store to recoup the losses you caused (not just the value of the item, but the cost of having to add security to catch people like you, etc...). What they can do if you don't pay is to sue you in civil court for the money. Of course, they will likely increase the amount to cover the costs of pursuing you. What the store is hoping you will do is that you just pay the demand. The folks on the board are split on whether you should pay the demand or not. Since you've already been convicted, my personal feeling is to call their bluff and just ignore them. There may be more letters but these "lawyers" really just churn these things out on the computer and really are disinclined to actually take a case to court. Others will come along and disagree, I am sure.