I received a ticket for retail fraud. I was taken to the police station and finger printed. This was my first ticket -no previous convictions. I have a pre-trial coming up. I will be getting a court appointed attorney, as I cannot afford to get an attorney outside of the court appointed one. I'm terrified I'll go to jail and I'm terrified that my employer of six years will fire me no one knows right now.
Have your attorney see if you can get some sort of deal where you end up with no record. The worst part of a theft conviction is the record is it is permanent.
No one can tell you what exactly is going to happen. Generally speaking, first time offenders for low-level theft related offenses do not serve jail time. But you haven't even been convicted of anything yet, so don't get too far ahead of yourself.
Jail should be the last of your concerns. Retail fraud is a crime of moral turpitude, and if convicted you can kiss your career aspirations goodbye. Hire a "real" lawyer before you get duped into doing something you will regret for life.
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