Shoplifting in Illinois

[lw2212]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: illinois.

So I was reading through the forums and feel very stupid to report that I too have gotten caught shoplifting with one of my friends. Im 18 years old and so is my friend. Are total's each were 17.50, why did i do it? I just dont want to tlak about it and im so mad at myself AND I got caught, for just 17.50.
So the security officer takes us to the back makes us sign countless papers, we have to pay the store back the 17.50 and says he has to call the police but since we both have a clean record probably wont get arrested. However we ofcourse do and get fingerprinted and all that jazz and we got bailed out for 100 each. I told my mom but since no one in my family has done such a thing like this we are kind of stumped whats going to happen or what we should do... I have a court date coming up in a couple of weeks, does my job get notified of this? I know I am going to be charged but can i go to jail? And i am definetly guilty but do i hire a lawyer anyways to get this expunged? I don't know if i can afford a lawyer but I want to do everything necessary and be prepared. Thanks you so much for taking the time to read this, I just really want a new start.

[gigirle]

First of all, relax! You made a dumb mistake but that doesn't make you a bad person.

What will happen is you'll go to court with a criminal defense attoney and hopefully there will be a diversion type program available in your area. Your attorney will know if its an option. What you do is plead guilty, complete the sentence (could be probation, community service, shoplifting class) and then afterwards, your records goes away, so there is no need to get it expunged. I highly doubt you'll get any jail time.

Your arrest record however is a different matter and most likely will not go away. Be sure to ask your attorney about this. Once you complete the criminal proceedings (most likely after but can come before) then you will have a letter in the mail asking to pay restitiution. This is a CIVIL demand in which you will have to pay a bill to the store. If you don't pay it, the bill or fine will go up and up until the store takes you to civil court and gets a judgement againt you. Pay it the minute you get the letter if you can, if not be sure you don't miss a payment or make one late.

I don't know if your employer will find out about this or not, but most likely not. I would suggest that you save your money, between the court costs, civil demand, attorney fees, probation costs (if you get this) you'll be lucky to get out of this with it costing you $1000.00. THINK next time!