Second Shoplifting Offense

[divoII]

When I was 18, I was caught stealing a CD player, and recieved 40 hours of comunity service and a year of probation. I am almost 21 and was caught stealing AGAIN (I'm such an idiot). Anyways, the item was 6.69$, and my court date is in a month. I live in Anchorage, Alaska, and I'm not sure what to expect. I plan to look for a Lawyer after X-mas, but what do you believe I can expect in terms of a sentence? I hadn't stolen in anything since I got caught until probably a month ago and got back into it, I should probably seek some help. But, anyway, thanks for your help and advice.
Reguards,
David

[Mr. Knowitall]

You should definitely seek some help if (a) you think you need it, or (b) you didn't stop stealing between the two incidents - you just got lucky for a while.

It's hard to guess the likely sentence without knowing local policies; you probably still have a good chance of getting probation. But if I were you I would want to give the judge some assurance that this isn't going to happen again. (Beyond your say-so, that is. They hear the words all the time.)

[divoII]

I had stopped between incidences until about a month before I was caught for the second time. I always had the money and it was never things that I needed. Man, I thought I had learned my lessen the first time, and now I've let my family and friends down, which is really the worst part. Besides being a full time college student, working part time, and spending time at the gym, I've begun volunteering at a kids science museum. I know it's easy to say, but I have genuinely made a commentment to turn my life around. I will look for shoplifting classes in my area in order to insure this will never happen again. Thank you for your comments, Mr. Knowitall, you've given me a bit of peace of mind, even though you're not sure of local policies.
Reguards,
David