What Consequences to Expect

[djkumar]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Michigan
me an a friend left family fare with 3 DVDs an no one saw us, but we started to run after we realized we gonna miss the school bus so loss prevention apparently started to chase us we put the DVDs down aways from the store an went back to school an caught the bus...the next day a cop came to the school, our school security guards pulled my friend an i down to the safety office were the cop questioned us separate...we both kinda confessed.. an he "arrested" us(not physically) an gave both us a paper saying we had to appear in court and for pics an finger printing then we went back to lunch...my question is what is gonna happen to us an can we get off easy,should we plea guilty or innocent . and how can we get this off our record. Seeing as this is our firstttt offense ever
32 minutes ago - 1 week left to answer.
Additional Details
on the paper it said we were charged with retail fraud 3rd degree...we r both 17 an we live in michigan which makes us adults i think... does that hurt us any bit and wat should we plea in court???
2 minutes ago

[PandorasBox]

Obviously, you need to talk to your parents now before they find out from another source.

You will need to appear in court. Being 17, you may need to have your parents in court with you.

I'd also ask them about getting a Criminal Defense Lawyer. If not, plead Not Guilty and ask for a public defender.

Expect the experience to cost you both a lot of money. There will be court costs and fines. You may have a First Time Offender program, or community service, or probation, or an anti-shoplifting class (or a combination of them) - those will cost money.

The store will send a Civil Demand - this is separate from the Criminal Charge.

If you are convicted as adults, expect your job options to be screwed for atleast 7 years.