Caught Shoplifting in Iowa

I'm posting for a friend that's looking for advice for his son who stole some cologne from Gordmans in Iowa.

Here is a letter that he sent to the Attorney General's office.

Quote:

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My son who is 19, was caught shoplifting a $12.00 bottle of cologne from Gordmans on 2/23/10. The bottle was recovered and undamaged. I don't even think he left the store with it. He was taken to the security office and the police were called. He was ticketed and went to court where he plead no contest to 4th degree theft. Between the fine and court costs he has to pay a fine of $195.00 (15 times the cost of the item that was recovered). He received a letter dated 3/5/10, from a law firm based in Orlando, Fla called Palmer, Reifler and Associates, P.A. After researching them on the internet it is clear they are shakedown artists who have had multiple complaints filed agains them and at least one law suit for unscrupulous practices. Their letter states they are licensed in Florida and Texas only. They cited Iowa Code Sections 645.3 as leverage for their demand.

I advised my son to plead no contest because he did something wrong. I told him he would have to suffer the consequences of the fine and court costs and having it on his record. I believed it would end there. I had no idea about this kind of practice by outfits like Palmer. Apparently, they start out with the first threatening demand letter for $200.00 and simply escalate their threats and the amounts owed if you don't pay them in their time frame. They send out an incredible amount of these letters each year, but actually only file lawsuits a small fraction of the time. That is the background to my situation.

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Neither him nor I are certain of exactly how his son truly plead in court "no-contest or guilty."

The letter details that they want $200.00 or they will bring up a civil case against him.

Our question is, if he already went to court and settled this criminally, can they still ask for a $200 civil settlement from him (and I'm assuming they will try and tack on some legal fees)?

Thoughts/suggestions?

What was received was a Civil Demand notice. The Civil Demand is not related to the criminal case. They have to service notice (this is the letter they sent) and give you X number of days to comply with the demand. If you fail to pay or contact them they then can file a civil suit in court. Legal fees should not be attached as long as it is paid within the time frame stated in the letter. If a suit is filed, the retailer will certainly be allowed to include a state allowed penalty.

Pay it.

The Civil Demand is legal. As noted, it is separate from the Criminal Complaint.

Basically, the store the your friends son shoplifted from retained this company to collect Civil Damages from.

If not paid - the amount can increase (a few posters here have seen them go double, triple....). Next would be the option of the store filing a lawsuit in Civil Court, which would affect your friends credit history.

To expand a little....Civil Demands go to pay costs of the retailer where your friends kid stole.

- The stores have to pay for Loss Prevention personnel - wages, benefits, etc.
- Those pretty security cameras are not free. Neither are the computer systems, everything they use to prevent shoplifting and apprehend thieves.
- Losses from shoplifting.

The average family pays over $400 a year in increased prices due to shoplifters who did not get caught.