My question involves criminal law for the state of: Virginia
hi, i know this is kind of long, but this greatly influences my future and i would really appreciate it if you would read it and give me some feedback.
im 18 and a honors college student in virginia. About a month ago, i went into the department store Dillard's in the mall. To make a long story short, i went into the dressing room and came out with about 200 dollars worth of mechandise. No one suspected me untill a sales woman went into the dressing room and found some hangers. So she called loss prevention and a security guard told me the managers wanted to speak with me. Obviously i knew i was caught so i was compliant and went with her. Then then detained me and a manager came and asked me if i had any of their merchandise. I said yes and handed them my purse in which i had the clothes. He asked if i took the tags off and i said yes. He calculated the price of the items and it came up to 215 dollars. In virginia, anything over 200 dollars is a felony.
So basically, at this point, i am devastated and scared out of my mind because this was my first time being in any trouble. so when he asked me my age, i said 17, in an attempt to maybe get out of actually going to jail, not knowing if i had not done this i wouldn't have gone. So the manager called the police and after answering all his questions, he asked my birthdate and i gave him one that would make me seventeen. But then he called my mother because i could not remember my soc. security number, and she ended up giving him my real age. So he flips out and says that he's taking me to the pen.
so im in the back of his squad car and i basically explained everything to him and apologized. He said i didn't belong there and i was a good kid, and he gave me his word that in court, he would tell them i was remorseful and that i told him everything. Yet i still went to a holding cell for about 15 hours untill the money my mom wired over from pa came through to post my bail of 200 dollars.
So now here i am, with a court date coming up on monday and i have no idea what to expect. i am being charged with grand larceny and identity theft. i have a public defender who said she would try to get the identity theft dismissed and the felony brought down to a misdemeanor, but she has yet to return my phone calls and the court date is only days away. im wondering if there can be any other solution such as a diversion program i can take considering its my first offense, i am 18, and a college student on the dean's list. i mean i know im guilty, but does the judge really want to send someone to jail, or ruin the life of a person who has a very bright future over one mistake? Since im not getting answers from my public defender, i need some help from you on what i should do about this. And if there's anyway i can avoid jail time or having a felony conviction on my record.
anything helps, again thanks for reading

