My question involves criminal law for the state of: Connecticut.
Let me just put a prologue here. I know I'm stupid and this was obviously wrong.
I'm 18 years old and shoplifted for the first time in my life, and of course, was caught. The man asked me back into the store and took me to a back room. The item I attempted to steal was a regular flashlight, about 15$ or so. He filled out a form and took my license to write stuff down. He asked for my SSN, but I didn't know it off hand. He gave me a letter to call Walmart in like 14 days and explain what happened. He was a nice guy and was sort of sympathizing with me, maybe because my hands were shaking horribly and I was about to start crying (and i'm a guy). Long story short, he said if I explained the situation, the people could: Not charge me anything, have me pay for the merchandise, or fine me. I asked if it would be hundreds of dollars and he said no. He left the room and I asked another woman in the room if it would be a lot of money and she said it shouldn't be. I was relieved, but after looking up some cases, a lot people said they paid like 300-500$ or something. I plan on paying whatever they ask. He took my picture and put me into a database or something, but i can still go into Walmart. No police involved. So I really just have a few questions:
1) Is there any possibility of basically paying little-no fine if I provide them with my story?
-Long story very short: my parents got divorced, my good friend from school died, and I was fired from my part-time job over something that didn't happen. All within the span of the past month or so. So I was angry at everything.
2) I read on other pages, but just reassurance: This will NOT be a criminal charge right? I don't plan on working in retail, so i don't care about that. Just more so for college purposes and stuff as well as any other job I find.
3) If I do end up paying X amount, is there a possibility I could pay with a pre-paid visa? I want to keep this out of my parents' knowledge.

