Will I Get Jail Time

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Burglary in California..... It's a long story. So basically I was caught shop lifting at a well known store. I went in to purchase two items that would total up to $140 but instead of purchasing them at retail price i had a bar code taped on a gift card so when I went to scan the items at a self check out line they came up a different price. Like 20 bucks each. However I didn't go down the way I was hoping at the time. I was having trouble swiping my gift card so the cashier came over to help me. She said that she thought I scanned one of my items twice because the items where different from each other and they came up the same price and same bar code. So she took my card and swiped it. When the receipt came out I grabbed it but she asked to look at. She notice that they were indeed not the items i purchased. So she asked me what happen. So I pretended not to know. So she called over the manager and he looked at the receipt and then he called Loss prevention and they looked at the receipt and decided to detain me. Not once did I try to leave or walk out. I didn't even finish my transaction the cashier did. Once detained they ran back the tape and didnt see anything So they said "We're confused so we're gonna call the police to figure this out" Once they said that I handed over my gift card with the bar code on it and explained how I used it. They ran that gift card and one other and notice that they were purchase by returning items and not purchased with cash. However I purchased them from a friend and explain to them that the items I was getting weren't going to be returned but sold on ebay. I also admitted to going to 1 other store to get the same items that added up to 140. Now i was arrested and charge with Burglary. But My main question is will I serve time( THIS IS MY FIRST OFFENSE)... And do I have a chance at fighting them since the transaction wasn't completed by me and I didn't try to walk out. However I did admit going to another store and stealing from there.... Sry about the long story in advance.....Thank you in advance

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Quoting California Penal Code, Sec. 459.

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Every person who enters any house, room, apartment, tenement,shop, warehouse, store, mill, barn, stable, outhouse or otherbuilding, tent, vessel, as defined in Section 21 of the Harbors andNavigation Code, floating home, as defined in subdivision (d) ofSection 18075.55 of the Health and Safety Code, railroad car, lockedor sealed cargo container, whether or not mounted on a vehicle,trailer coach, as defined in Section 635 of the Vehicle Code, anyhouse car, as defined in Section 362 of the Vehicle Code, inhabitedcamper, as defined in Section 243 of the Vehicle Code, vehicle asdefined by the Vehicle Code, when the doors are locked, aircraft asdefined by Section 21012 of the Public Utilities Code, or mine or anyunderground portion thereof, with intent to commit grand or petitlarceny or any felony is guilty of burglary. As used in this chapter,"inhabited" means currently being used for dwelling purposes,whether occupied or not. A house, trailer, vessel designed forhabitation, or portion of a building is currently being used fordwelling purposes if, at the time of the burglary, it was notoccupied solely because a natural or other disaster caused theoccupants to leave the premises.

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You should consult a criminal defense lawyer, as there's a good chance of getting this charge reduced to a lesser charge, with a high probability of probation.

This is what will happen. State of California correct? It is considered petty theft in small degree. This might even be broken down to an infraction. Most likely you have a court hearing right? Don't hire a lawyer, its a waste of money. Just take in the attorney they appoint you with. He/she will tell you what is up so you will be fine. Just admit to the charges and at most you will get is an infraction which is a small fine. You won't have to worry about jail time because that's impossible for petty theft unless you acted out during the time of your arrest, but seeing that you are out and posting this, you must be fine. Or, you can always deny the charges and try to play it dumb all the way and get away with $200+ fine or 50+ hours of community service. Its up to you with the attorney that's appointed to you. You can walk away with nothing so try it, its worth a shot considering you didn't run in the first place and cooperated all the way. Why did you reveal critical information as to robbing from another store? What were your total charges?

I used to be a loss prevention officer at one time. Once you admitted to using your own bar code to scan the items, you had admitted to theft. The chance of you doing jail time is small for a first offense but it does happen. Likely you will have to pay restitution to the store for the items (even though you didn't get to keep them) and reimburse the store and the city for the cost of prosecuting you. The you will be put on probation for a time. If you fail probation then you will spend whatever time you were originally sentenced to as well as more fines for failing.

But we are NOT the judge and he can sentence you to jail right then if he so chooses. It will all depend on how cooperative you are.