Charged with theft? Here's what's at stake: your record, your job, your reputation, and for some, even your immigration status. Theft is a crime of dishonesty, and employers, landlords, and licensing boards treat it differently because it goes to whether you can be trusted. Under immigration law, it's considered a crime of moral turpitude, meaning even a misdemeanor conviction can affect your immigration status.
What most people don't realize is that in a theft case, the dollar amount decides the severity of the charge. The value the State puts on the property is what separates a ticket from a misdemeanor, and a misdemeanor from a felony.
If your case is dismissed or resolved favorably, ask us about expunctions and nondisclosures to help clear it from your record.
To convict you, the State has to prove you knowingly took property that wasn't yours, without consent, intending to keep it, and every piece of that must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. So we pull it all apart: the video, the receipts, the witness statements, and the value they claim.
