My question involves criminal law for the state of: TX
My former step-daughter stole two credit cards from her grandmother (my former mother-in-law). Between the two cards she racked up around $900 in charges. My mother-in-law contacted the police after she was notified about fraud on the 2nd card (only a couple of days after she found out about the first one). My step-daughter took the first card from my mother-in-law's purse and used it for a few days before the credit card company froze it for potential fraud / theft issues (my mother in law hadn't used that particular credit card for 2 years). When the first card was frozen, she took another card. She then went shopping at the mall with some friends.
My former step-daughter is already on probation for possession charges of a controlled substance on school property (was originally charged with a felony charge but it was dropped down when she went before the judge). She is on probabtion for 9 months. She actually went before the judge around the time the first card was frozen & she took the 2nd card.
My mother-in-law has started the processes with the different police departments that have jurisdiction over the cities where the charges were made. We have gotten the information regarding the specific charges from the credit card companies as back up for the police departments. We were told by one police department that it was a felony charge for each transaction that my step-daughter made with the stolen credit cards. My mother in law & I were trying to find out what the penalties are for this type of fraud / theft. I have been researching online but have been unable to find anything that actually tells me anything.
Any help anyone can give on this will be greatly appreciated.
Also, should my mother-in-law be consulting with an attorney?
Thanks,
Melanie

