credit card abuse

[motherofanangel]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas.

okay. im not sure where to start or how to ask the question, so ill start with what i do know. i was arrested on Thursday September 4 in Williamson county. the arresting officer said i had a warrent out for my arrest for credit card abuse using the person whoes residence i was ats credit card. I had no idea i had a warrent out for my arrest and have never been arrested before. i spent 32 hours in jail and am currently out on a $7200 bond. seeing as how i have never been through this before...im more then scared. i have two children whom i raise full time as a single mom. i lost my job because my arrest showed up in the paper and my boss read it. the clients were uncomfortable, so now i am fired. With the economy the way it is, job searching is not easy at all seeing as how i have only a highschool diploma and 4 years experience in customer service and a pending felony conviction on my record. i was cleaning houses for a living. i have been racking my brain trying to figure out what is going on.The only thing that i can think of is that when i was cleaning their house i saw a stack of credit cards half way under the couch. i didnt want anyone to misplace them so i picked them up. i noticed the name on the card was not the people whose house i was at, so out of curiousity i flipped through the deck wrapped in a rubberband to see whose they were. then, i put the cards in the cleaning bucket because i was going to put them on the desk. i forgot all about them till my mom noticed them still in the cleaning bucket when we arrived at the next house. She said she tossed them into the trunk of her car so she could return them to the house that day. she never did. they are, as far as i know, still in the trunk of her car. so. they have never once been used. i dont know if maybe they have it on video, but then they would see me put them straight into the bucket. and again, they have never been used. i am not denying taking them although it was by accident, however, i am denying ever once using them. i am at a loss here. I NEED ADVICE. i cant afford an attorney, being a now unemployed single mom. but i have to find out what is going on. why i was arrested. i guess i will ask for a cout appointed attorney? ARE THEY EVER ANY HELP?!?!?! people say if i do get convicted i will most likly get probation since its my first offence. yet another payment i cant afford and imposible to get a job since i will be a felon. wow. this is scary. WHAT IS THE MAXIMUM PUNISHMENT FOR THIS CRIME? ANYONE HAVE ANY HELP?....or know an affordable like...payment plan attorney? [email protected]

 

[CavemanLawyer]

Under the Credit Card/Debit Card Abuse statute it is a crime just to take or possess someone else's card if you do so with the intent to use it. If you or your mother really never did use these cards, than the State would have to prove you intended to.

The range of punishment for this offense is 6 months to 2 years in State Jail or probation up to five years.

 

[VeronicaLodge]

your mom fired you from the house cleaning business after reading about your arrest in the paper but the cards are in her trunk?

 

[CMLANDLORD]

This is what I don't understand with cleaners. Cleaning and arranging is one thing. Putting items that do NOT belong to you into a bucket w/ the intention of "putting it in a safe place later" makes no sense to me as a home owner. Maybe the 1/2 way under the couch thing is what is considered safe to THEM. The most you should have done was pick up the cards and place them on the couch or coffee table. THATS IT. Then come to find out you snoop through the entire stack and notice the names aren't ones of the home owner. Thats crossing the line.

I've tested the honor of my cleaners w/ a $100 blatantly laid on the floor. It was picked up and placed on a piece of furniture it was closest too. Moved but still there and within the same vicinity of where it was found.

I'm not surprised you were fired. Accident or not, the cards ended up in your possession. Home owner suspected you took them, you got arrested and found out they were. Yes, they will have to prove that you had INTENT to use them but you will get charged with something nonetheless. Bottom line, its stealing.

 

[>Charlotte<]

Another possibility is that you did intentionally take the cards, and you either used them or gave them to someone else to use. Knowing the card(s) have been used, but thinking there's no way they can prove it was actually you that used them, you're sticking with the "They may have been used but it wasn't me, all I did was take them by mistake" defense.

If that's the case and you're determined to stick to that, you really, really, really need an attorney.