I'm 18. I was at Shop Ko one day looking at work clothes. I wander over to the jewelry and end up taking four pieces of jewelry, totaling $63. I had money on me and intended to buy them at first, but decided to try the whole shoplifting thing my friends are oh so fond of. I took the tags off two of them. Needless to say, I got caught by LP who was following me on camera.
This is the first time I've ever done this (and of course I got caught).
The LP guys gave me a letter with a general explanation of civil and criminal damages. They then called the police who wrote me a notice to appear in court for 3rd Degree Theft. I want to make this as easy as possible and just plead guilty but a friend told me to not plead guilty at first and plea bargain with the prosecutor to lower the sentencing. I have no idea how I would pull that off seeing they had me on camera.
I have plans to go to phlebotomy school to learn how to draw blood to get a job to make money for college and dont want a stupid decision I made once to screw me over.
How can I get the least consiquences for my stupid actions?

