Criminal Law
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Answered in 4 minutes by:
2/17/2016
Hammer O'Justice, Criminal Lawyer
Category: Criminal Law
Satisfied Customers: 4,502
Experience: Almost 12 years of legal experience, primarily in criminal law
VerifiedHello.
I'm sorry to hear about your situation. I know you are nervous but there is almost zero chance that you will go to jail for a first offense on a charge as petty as this. The maximum penalty for shoplifting is 30 days in jail and/or a fine of $50-$500. Under a worst chance scenario, you are more likely to have to do probation or pay a fine than to actually go to jail. Your best bet is to ask if you are eligible for some kind of diversion or deferred prosecution program. These types of programs usually require you to complete a period of probation (usually about six months) and fulfill whatever requirements set by the court (often community service) and if you follow the program, the charge ends up getting dismissed. This keeps you from having a misdemeanor conviction on your record. But regardless of whether you get a diversion-type deal, it is really unlikely that you will end up going to jail for this.
No problem. Good luck! Please leave positive feedback so I get credit for my answer. Take care!
Hammer O'Justice, Criminal Lawyer
Category: Criminal Law
Satisfied Customers: 4,502
Experience: Almost 12 years of legal experience, primarily in criminal law
VerifiedHammer O'Justice and 87 other Criminal Law Specialists are ready to help you
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DISCLAIMER: Answers from Experts on JustAnswer are not substitutes for the advice of an attorney. JustAnswer is a public forum and questions and responses are not private or confidential or protected by the attorney-client privilege. The Expert above is not your attorney, and the response above is not legal advice. You should not read this response to propose specific action or address specific circumstances, but only to give you a sense of general principles of law that might affect the situation you describe. Application of these general principles to particular circumstances must be done by a lawyer who has spoken with you in confidence, learned all relevant information, and explored various options. Before acting on these general principles, you should hire a lawyer licensed to practice law in the jurisdiction to which your question pertains.
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