Here is the situation:
A person walks into a grocery store and picks up two packs of cigars, gets a half gallon of orange juice and walks around the store. He puts one pack of cigars ($2.99) in his pocket and pays for remaining merchandise at the checkout. Law enforcement is on premises and witnesses this act. They take him aside and charge him under Florida statute 812.014 for this act and he must go to court on February 12th. If he were to plead not guilty and insist that this go to trial, what are the odds that they will simply drop the charges since it is such an insignificant amount? Would the penalty be worse if they call that bluff and he is found guilty than it would be if he were to plead guilty to begin with?
Another important factor: this person pled nolo contendere 10 years ago to felony grand theft, in which case, adjudication was withheld. Is it likely that the prosecutor or judge will be aware of this prior incident and will this new charge count as a second or first time offender?
Thanks for your advice!

