My question involves criminal law for the state of: Lets just call it the South
Hello everyone I found this site and it is a wealth of information. Here is my story.
I am in my 30's make 100K plus a year and I got off on the high of shoplifting. It sounds stupid, but I enjoyed the thrill of not getting caught. I think I have been doing it to some extent for about 20 years. I imagine I have "borrowed 10;s of thousands of dollars of crap over the years.
I was caught shoplifting at a major department store in December 2009. The store had theft sensors when you left so I figured it was easy to load up for the holidays. BUSTED. I was leaving the store and the LP guy caught me as I was leaving and it was over. Took me back to the security room, got my information, and called the cops. As I was sitting back there I saw the camera equipment they had and it was pretty impressive. They were watching others they thought were about to shoplift and it was amazing how easily the cameras could follow and zoom to watch what was going on. After a couple hours the cops showed up issued me a citation and I was on my way. I have to admit I was a little freaked out but relieved to leave.
About a month later I had to show up for court for the booking process. I didn’t know I would go to court immediately after booking I just thought I would get a court date at that time. When I figured out court was happening next I texted my sister in law (my wife freaked out and told her the night it happened) who works with most of the judges and District Attorneys for help. Her spoke to another DA who told her to tell me to ask for an under advisement plea and if I don’t get it to ask for a court date. I didn't get it as result of an old DUI when I was in college. Now it’s time to Lawyer up
Hired an attorney my Sis in Law's DA friend recommended at a friend rate ($400 normally $800) for this type of work. He advised me to go ahead and take the shoplifting class and wait for the court date. Our goal was not to let this get on my record. Court was today
Making a long story short my attorney was telling me the DA was being an ass to start off with. 11 months 29 days suspended sentence and 199 hours of community service and it stays on my record. Not going to happen. I feel I should also mention that not only was the cop who wrote the citation in court but so was the Loss prevention guy. I told my attorney I would pay fines, donate to charity, etc, but I could not have this on my record. He was getting to the point where he thought he would have to take it to the next level of court (later date/different judge=more money$$). He kept going back to the DA and kept pleading my case and my end result was......
Under advisement plea - 60 hours of Community service- charges dismissed after I show proof of completion during my next court date in late July. The drawback, I cannot pick the community service. I have to work at the recycling center at the other side of town.
My attorney earned his money but the lesson of the story is..Don’t shoplift. I learned my lesson. Guys/Gals---camera technology is crazy and just because they don’t have the black domes in the ceiling dont think someone is not watching. If this is your first time being busted it doesn’t matter if you have ANY type of previous conviction. The courts typically only give you one freebee ...I got lucky.
My days of shoplifting are over. When I took my shoplifting class in January there were only two of us in class, me and this lady in her 60s. This was the second time she was busted and the first person I ever spoke to who identified the rush you get when shoplifting. Its an addiction....you might get away with it a few times...or over 20 years like me. But you will get busted..Just don’t do it. Thanks for reading.....best of luck to those who going through the system now.

