If you need to go to Court in Warren Michigan or Macomb County because you have been arrested or ticketed for shoplifting you need an experienced criminal defense attorney who will fight for you. No matter if your accusation is from a major large scale retailer or a local small Warren business we can help you with your case. Get attorney Daniel Hilf on your side for aggressive action and immediate steps taken toward obtaining positive results, because he routinely appears before the Judges at the 37th District Court, the 16th Circuit Court, and throughout Macomb county defending shoplifting charges.
Having to go to Court for a shoplifting case may seem overwhelming, but it is important to remember that having a shoplifting allegation against you does not make you a bad person. In fact, shoplifting is prosecuted daily by the Warren City Attorney and the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office, but it is often based only upon an single incident due to a temporary lapse in ordinarily good judgment. However, just because these accusations are heard at the 37th District Court and elsewhere in Macomb County on a daily basis, it does not mean that there are not serious consequences, or that it will not affect your life in a negative way. Any criminal conviction for shoplifting can have a far reaching impact, because a shoplifting sentence may include any or all of the following: the loss of your freedom (incarceration); probation with strictly monitored conditions; loss of employment; professional licensing issues (for lawyers, accountants, nurses, stock brokers, and other positions that require State or Federal licensing); loss of educational opportunities; steep fines and costs; immigration complications (for persons that are not United States citizens); and personal embarrassment. If you are faced any shoplifting allegation, you need a respected and experienced criminal defense attorney who is totally on your side handling your defense.
A shoplifting charge in Warren Michigan and elsewhere stems from a variety of alleged behaviors: when store merchandise is stolen or an attempt to steal store merchandise is made; the price tag of the merchandise is intentionally changed to a lower price to defraud the store; or merchandise is fraudulently exchanged in order to obtain money or other store merchandise. Felony and misdemeanor shoplifting related charges that are regularly prosecuted at the 37th District Court and other Michigan courtrooms include:
First Degree Retail Fraud is a felony charge that carries up to a 5 year maximum prison sentence that is prosecuted when the merchandise involved is $1,000 (one thousand dollars) or more, or if the merchandise involved is $200 (two hundred dollars) or more and the person has a prior theft conviction [the Judge, however, can choose to impose probation instead of incarceration].
Organized Retail Theft is felony charge that carries up to a 5 year maximum prison sentence that is also subject to applicable habitual offender sentencing provisions [the Judge, however, can choose to impose probation instead of incarceration]. The offense of Organized Retail Theft occurs when the prosecution believes that the alleged intent of the Defendant is to shoplift and then resell the stolen merchandise to another person or business in order to generate income.
Second Degree Retail Fraud is a misdemeanor charge that carries up to a 1 year maximum county jail sentence that is prosecuted when the merchandise involved is at least $200 (two hundred dollars) but less than $1000 (one thousand dollars), or if the merchandise involved is under $200 (two hundred dollars) and the person has a prior theft conviction [the Judge, however, can choose to impose probation instead of incarceration].
Third Degree Retail Fraud is a misdemeanor charge that carries up to a 93 day maximum county jail sentence that is prosecuted under either State law or local ordinance, when the merchandise involved in the offense is less than $200 (two hundred dollars) [the Judge, however, can choose to impose probation instead of incarceration].
Removal of a Theft Detection Device is a misdemeanor charges that carries up to a 1 year maximum county jail sentence that is prosecuted under State law [the Judge, however, can choose to impose probation instead of incarceration].
Many merchants around Warren have implemented comprehensive loss prevention related policies with the goal of reducing retail fraud losses and insurance costs, avoiding contested litigation, and deterring overall in store theft. It is not uncommon for a staff of loss prevention personnel with high-tech shoplifting prevention equipment (such as merchandise sensors and closed circuit television) to be used within a store to combat the costs and liabilities associated with shoplifting. Even with the best surveillance technology and professional loss prevention training, mistakes are still made and persons are still sometimes falsely arrested due to errors in judgment (such as false identification and false interpretation of a situation), cultural issues, and procedural errors.
If you retain attorney Daniel Hilf to defend your Warren shoplifting case, he will obtain all the available discovery materials to fully and properly defend your case, which can include the following: police report(s), loss prevention report(s), witness statement(s), in store video(s), police video(s), photograph(s), statement(s) the police and/or loss prevention claims that you made. Attorney Hilf will give you great advice concerning whether to go to trial in front of a Judge or jury and fight the accusation, or whether to choose to accept a plea or plea bargain and try and persuade the Judge to be lenient with you. However, it is up to you if you want to pursue a plea bargain (an agreement with the prosecution to dismiss or reduce the charge(s) against you) or seek a favorable sentence agreement (an agreement with the Judge and/or prosecutor to impose a specific sentence, such as avoiding or limiting any term of confinement) or proceed to trial for your Warren Michigan allegation.
Your first critical decision is to retain a zealous and experienced shoplifting defense attorney to help you obtain the best possible result for your circumstances. As stated earlier, a shoplifting conviction will likely cause you a whole host of problems in addition to significant criminal penalties, including making it extremely hard to find a job or career, because many companies do not want to risk hiring someone convicted of a theft offense. Hire a top rated and outstanding criminal defense lawyer for your Warren shoplifting case – attorney Daniel Hilf – to help you. Attorney Daniel Hilf is a widely respected attorney throughout Macomb County with over twenty years of experience inside and outside of courtrooms helping individuals like yourself fight to obtain favorable results for a shoplifting arrest or ticket.
If you have been accused of shoplifting in Warren Michigan, now is the right time to make an impactful and smart decision concerning your in court representation by contacting Hilf & Hilf, PLC.