My story is a little similar to this: http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12667
I am a college student who went shopping at Sears and was caught switching prices on a pair of earrings (from $35.99 to $19.99), after I had already paid and left the store. Two women approached me and took me to the back of the store and told me what they had caught on tape. They made me pay the price in full then collected the information from my driver's license (from another state)--thankfully I was not prosecuted and the police did not come. I signed a paper saying that I was guilty, then was told that I would be getting a letter in the mail demanding a $150 fine be paid (equivalent to 10x the price difference), and that after this fine has been received it will be as if nothing had ever happened at all, except that I will not be allowed to enter a Sears. I was fully compliant. How fast do these letters arrive and how long will it take for this process to be settled? I worried because some others in Michigan who shoplifted were not at first prosecuted, then all of a sudden received a court order--I am also worried of the possibility of having been wrongly informed. Additionally, will I have a criminal record? I have never gotten in trouble with the law before nor done anything so stupid. I am very remorseful for this act and am paranoid right now, as I will be applying for law school next year, and cannot even believe I had perpetrated a crime.

