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Help in Pa, theft

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in2deep4this

Junior Member
I made the biggest mistake of my life yesterday..
I shoplifted........
I confessed I wasn't about to say I didn't do it. I am an honest person and this was my first and last time. I am over 18 and I was with my 17 year old friend who is being charged as an adult. She is facing a fine because this was our first offance.

The charges I am facing are...
1. Crimmal charges
2. Cival charges
3. endangerment to a minor..this is the one that kills me the most. I subjected my 8 year old sister to my stupid actions. Although she had no idea what we did, she of course so the aftermath. I maybe facing jail time for this which just kills me.

I live with my parents because I have alot of mental and emotional problems. I blame my stupid actions on a "manic mood". I have to pay the fines and also all the merchidise fee. I don't think its fare that because I am over 18 I must pay for all the things we took. My friend has offered to pay her half. The price of the things was under $100 will that help me any? I am still in shock form what happend and can only blame myself. I've done anything wrong before, I am terrified of the jail time I may face,haveing this over my head. My family is a very upstanding family, my mom spoke of expungement which hopefully when this all clears I will look into. Please help if you can. My mind is thinking of awful things....

What are this laws in Pennsylvania regarding my situation?
I am sorry for the spelling mistakes, I am a very rare mood...
 
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in2deep4this

Junior Member
The cop never said what I was charged with. The guy who caught us told me the charges. He said that my friend because she was 17, yet being charged as an adult only has to pay the fee from court.

He told me that
I however was charged with retail theft and must pay my court fee in both crimmnal court and civil and the the cost of the stuff which was $50 and forgive me but this was my first time doing something like this and there was no way in cost close to that. He told me I would have to pay $207. He said I could also be charged with endangerment of my younger sister and go to jail.

The thing I dont understand is the cop said nothing to me but checked my info.

I would like to know what i might get like probation or community service or jail time. My parents are threating to kick me out if I get any of these things. they are also upset that I can't file for exspoungement because I am pleding gulity, well I am not going to say i am not when i know I did it.

I am really upset and I have bipolar disorder, i was not on my meds because I was going on new ones. I can honestly say that I was having a mannic episoide but i am going to plead gulity because i know i did it. I just want this to go away.....
 
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Bravo8

Member
When you receive some type of document from the court, we might be able to help you more. The store security telling you what you COULD be charged with doesn't mean diddly-squat.
 

Rogan

Junior Member
in2deep4this said:
He told me that
I however was charged with retail theft and must pay my court fee in both crimmnal court and civil and the the cost of the stuff which was $50 and forgive me but this was my first time doing something like this and there was no way in cost close to that. He told me I would have to pay $207. He said I could also be charged with endangerment of my younger sister and go to jail.
I assume that you are saying that there is no way that the stolen merchandise retailed for what you are told you must compensate for the items. If someone would confirm this i would appreciate it but with a retail theft (shoplifting) the "thief" may be charged more than the value of the retail cost of the items stold, up to a certain multiple. I want to say that the amount that can be charged up to in my area is 10x, so if i stold a $20 shirt from the local store, i could be required to pay upt to $200 just for the shirt if i was caught, regardless of court fees or jail time. I think they figure it just adds to the reasons for not shoplifting by making one of the punishments a whole lot of money coming out of your pocket in relation to the money you might save if you get away with the theft.

As for your choice to plead guilty, i think that is a good thing. The more you make yourself look repentent rather than defiant, the better you look as a person. If you can tell them with sincerity that you know you messed up and that you don't want this to affect your chances in the future such a getting a job, you will look alot less like a person they want to lock up and more like a productive citizen who learned a lesson. Mentioning the medical issue would be good i think but pushing it as a complete excuse i don't think would be good. At that point you look like a person who wants to get out of what you have done and are reaching for any way possible, medical being something that has gotten a bad reputation as many criminals turn to it to help them get off free of conviction. In grade school i remember kids saying they would do something illegal then just plead insanity to get out of the charges when they were caught. Coming off as sincere and repentent are two big positives in my opinion so either be repentent and sincere or act well.
 

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