Retail Fraud Canton – Shoplifting Lawyer – Canton Lawyer
Kids don’t always make the best choices; in fact sometimes kids make bad choices like stealing, shoplifting, or retail fraud. A criminal conviction can haunt someone for the rest of his or her life. Having a theft crime on your criminal record can be especially damaging when it comes time to obtain employment or rent a place to live.
In our most recent case our client went into Kohl’s in Canton and tried to steal some Nike shirts. Before he could get out of the Canton store with the shirts he tried to shoplift undercover security officers detained him. Our client was taken into a back office where he wrote a confession. Canton Police arrived and arrested our client for retail fraud. The value of the items he stole was around $300.00 so he was facing a retail fraud in the second degree, a serious misdemeanor that could land a person in jail for a year among other penalties.
The client made the right move and that was to call Canton lawyer, Aaron J. Boria (734) 453-7806.
We were able to obtain a reduced offense, and get the case dismissed. Read on for an explanation for how this works and more about the shoplifting defense magic we worked on this case.
Retail Fraud Canton – Shoplifting Canton
The legal term for shoplifting is retail fraud. There are three ways a prosecutor or police can charge you with retail fraud:
- The most common retail fraud is shoplifting, where someone tries to take an item that is offered for sale from a store without paying for it.
- A less common retail fraud scenario is when a person is accused of switching bar codes in order to purchase an item for a lesser amount.
- The last way someone can be charged with retail fraud is when they are accused of taking an item from the store and trying to return it without ever having paid for it in order to get a store credit or money.
Degrees of Retail Fraud
Retail Fraud in the Third Degree is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail, a fine of up to $500.00 or three times the value of the item stolen, whichever is greater.
3RD degree retail fraud is charged when the value of the item stolen is less than $200.
Retail Fraud in the Second Degree is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $2,000.00 or three times the value of the item stolen, whichever is greater.
2nd degree retail fraud is charged when the value of the item stolen is more than $200 but less than $1,000.00. 2nd degree retail fraud can also be charged if the value of the item stolen is under $200 with a prior conviction for retail fraud.
Retail Fraud in the First Degree is a felony punishable by up to five years in jail and a fine of up to $10,000 or three times the value of the item stolen, whichever is greater.
1st degree retail fraud is charged when the value of the item stolen is more than $1,000.00. 1st degree retail fraud can also be charged if the value of the item is more than $200 but less than $1,000.00 with a prior retail fraud conviction.
Retail Fraud Canton – Shoplifting Lawyer – Canton Lawyer
Our client was facing retail fraud in the second degree for trying to steal items with a value over $200. As a result he was facing a fine of up to $2,000.00 and a year in jail.
Our client was caught red handed so there was no legal challenge to be made and no trial to be had. Even with out client being guilty we were able to negotiate to have this case dismissed. There are statutes available for first time offenders in their youth with the idea in mind that young people make bad choices.
When Canton Lawyer, Boria went to the pre trial he was able to get the prosecuting on board with allowing the client to have the special status, which would result in his record being sealed and the case being dismissed. The client would still have to pay a fine and serve some time on probation.
Canton lawyer, Boria was able to get the matter reduced to third offense retail fraud before entering into the special status. By doing the fine was reduced from $2,000.00 all the way down to a few hundred bucks.
This result means that when a school, employer, or housing runs a background search on our client nothing at all will come up. Not even the arrest record will show up with the result Canton lawyer, Boria obtained. If our client is ever asked if he has ever been convicted of a crime the proper and legal answer from him to give is no.
If you have been charged with retail fraud because someone accused you of shoplifting in Canton then you need to call Canton shoplifting lawyer, Aaron J. Boria (734) 453-7806.
Even if you think you are guilty call Canton lawyer Boria today. We fight for our clients and we obtain results that other lawyers simply cannot.
