Thank you to those who posted.
I retained a lawyer (after visiting MANY) who, because this is Texas, knew that the court wouldn't drop or change the charge. he was honest about that. The amount I took was $52, but it may as well have been $500 for all that they care about. I had to put my trust in him and let him do his thing. I have had my court date and here is the outcome:
Paid for court costs and fine (total $575) out of my bond amount. Got a refund check immed, but only because we had paid cash to post bond. If you use a bail service, it will take longer and they take a 10% cut.
I was given 24 hours of community service,
one year ban from the store I stole from,
have to pay $25 to Crimestoppers and
do probation for one year ($50 a visit to PO).
I rec'd deferred adjudication (12 months) as a misdemeanor B. Deferring means there was no conviction, but to get caught doing ANYTHING in the next year and my ass goes to the hoosegow for up to 24 months. By trying to say that 'it wasn't me', 'I didn't do it', 'someone set me up', or anything stupid like that it would have been not admitting to the fact that I broke the law, and I did. They know it and so do I. I've learned my lesson.
Is shoplifting a few buck worth of stuff worth doing it? Lets see:
$1200 for lawyer,
$25 to Crimestoppers
$575 for fines,
$625 for PO fees,
$3000 for therapy
$60.'anti-theft class'
$$ babysitting fees while I do community service hours
To add to this, theof the entire thing, the fact that I can't volunteer school and hospital events (they run background checks). The fact that right after I was caught, I received at least 30 letters from lawyers (all fishing for business) all stating that they knew I had been arrested and they got my name off a 'daily report log' from the county. If any of those letters got into the hands of any of my neighbors' mailboxes, I can't imagine...
If you are in a situation where you think you can get away with this by using some lame-ass argument like "I've never done this before", think again: They've heard it all before. Don't even bother. They've heard it all before and know you're lying. Stand up, take your lumps, pay your dues and be a better human being and a role model.
![]()
![]()
By the way, your probation officer (or parole officer if you committed a felony theft) DOES ABSOLUTELY HAVE THE RIGHT TO COME TO YOUR HOME AND INSPECT IT. Not only that, you also have to allow drug and alcohol testing to be done, at your expense too, even if you are not charged with drug or alcohol related charges.

