What will my sentence be if I was charged with theft?

Retain counsel.

You must go to court and request the case be advanced to an earlier date. Once charged with a misdemeanor crime, you are not going to simply pay a fine. This is not a traffic ticket. You'll learn the actual charge[s] filed, and get copies of all the police reports and prosecutor's evidence when appearing for arraignment at the first court hearing. In California, if convicted of any misdemeanor, you potentially face up to 6-12 months in jail, plus fines. When charged with any crime, the proper questions are, can any evidence obtained in a test, search or statement be used against you, can you be convicted, and what can you do? No amount of free 'tips and hints' from here or elsewhere are going to effectively help in a legal defense. If you don't know how to represent yourself effectively against an experienced prosecutor intending to convict, then hire an attorney who does, who will try to get a dismissal, charge reduction, diversion, programs, or other decent outcome through motions, plea bargain, or take it to trial if appropriate. A first offender shoplifting MIGHT be able to get a diversion program that avoids jail, and MIGHT even avoid a conviction on your record. If serious about hiring counsel to help in this, feel free to contact me. I?ll be happy to help fight this and get the best outcome possible, using whatever defenses there may be.

Usually you get a fine of $100.00 plus Assessments and put on summary probation for thre years if there is no prior theft.

If you hire a lawyer ASAP he should be able to get you into court early and get your case processed so you can leave. You will also need the case closed before the military will take you. Get a good local attorney. Home field advantage is huge in criminal court.

Get a local attorney and seek to have this matter resolved before you leave.

Hire defense counsel for this, the damages to you can be small. But it does require doing some community service hours and a class as well as paying court costs and a fine, basically keeping your nose clean for 4 months. Do not fail to appear, go to court. This is not something that you can ignore, you have to face it now, not 10 years from now when they might finally catch up with you.

You definitely need to hire an attorney to represent you. If you don't have any prior convictions for theft, it's possible that your attorney can get this reduced to a lesser offense, such as "Littering" plus a fine, but that depends on which court this is in. If you plead guilty and pay the fine, this theft conviction will follow you the rest of your life, and could prevent you from getting a job, obtaining credit, renting an apartment, or getting accepted into college.

You should be less concerned about the sentence, and more concerned about the criminal record. Theft is a crime of moral turpitude, and if you have it you can kiss your school/military/employment aspirations goodbye. Invest in a good lawyer now or regret for life.