Shoplifting, Larceny, Robbery, Theft 1st time ever getting in trouble...bought and sold stolen goods unknowingly

[domjdavis85]

Hello, everyone i have a major problem...first off i am in the state of north carolina..i am a 24 year old female. full time college student and waitress at a restaurant. Recently i purchased a laptop and a blu ray disk player from a gentleman, not knowing that the items were both stolen....i used the laptop for school however, the blue ray disk player i didnt need because i didnt realize how expensive blu ray disks were. So i posted an ad on craigslist to sell the blu ray disk player for 100 bux. Well anyways, i found a buyer for the blue ray disk player, and upon meeting them discovered that the buyer was an undercover cop. At the time i was jsut leaving class so i also had the laptop that i had purchased prior in my car as well. I was sent down to a police station and questioned for about 5 hours...where as they tried to connect me with recent burgalaries in the area, car break ins, and gang activity all because of me having these two stolen items. They also tried to badger me to give them more information on who i received these items from when i really dont know the person at all. after about 5 or 6 hours, i was handcufeed and locked up with a 7,000 dollar bond. i was charged with two misd. for having the blue ray disk player and the laptop in my possession...receiving stolen goods...then i was charged with a felony for attempting to sell the blue ray player (attemt to obtain property under false pretense),.

I am extremely worried about this, as i stated i am a college student and i work full time....i am planning on graduating in a year or two with a degree in social work...and this felony will not look good at all on my record..i also can not have my life disrupted by jail. i understand that what i did was wrong....in order to hire an private attorney most are charging 2000 dollars or more, so i am supposed to be meeting with a free court appointed attorney next week.

this is my first time ever getting in trouble like this before..i have only had speeding tickets and driving with a suspended license tickets in my past....nothing else.....what are the chances that i will have to go to jail and this will remain on my record...i would like to hopefully just get communitiy service and probation..but i can not have this on my record or go to jail!...

please offer me some advice..what are my other options..again i am in north carolina...also, should i try to hire a private or attorney or do you think the public defender will be okay??

 

[Hideoutcabins]

Recieving merchandise that you should have reasonably known had a far greater value than you paid, does result in theft by receiving. However, keep in mind the prosecutor will always charge you with much higher charges than he knows he can convict you of. This is called wiggle room. I have no doubt he will bargain to a misdemeanor and your attorney should make certain that sealing or expunging the matter after 6 months good behavior is part of the bargain. The prosecution is not out to get you or destroy your career; they want to educate you on the facts of law.

 

[domjdavis85]

thank you

thank you so much for the above reply.i meet with my public defender on thursday october 1st..and i will discuss all these options with him, and then my court date is october 14th....i really hope that this can get settled, i have asked several people and they have all told me the same thing that i could prob do a plea bargain since this is my first time getting in trouble..however of course i am still nervous..some people have advised me against having a public defender and have said i should hire my own private ......

 

[jharris352]

I have practiced criminal law before, and I use to live in NC, though I wasn't an attorney there. You should plead NOT GUILTY and keep that plea until they offer you a very simple diversion plan. You will be given some 12 months of probation where you will have to take drug tests, commit crimes, maybe do some community service, and see a probation officer (cost about $40 a month). If you successfully complete this probation without any other problems your record will be clean. The program is different from state to state but that's the idea.

When something is REALLY cheap, don't buy it.

 

[domjdavis85]

thanks again for the above statment..i talk with my lawyer on thursday....apparalantly the laptop and dvd player were stolen from a house at the same time that four guns were stolen from the house as well as several big screen televisions. The police during the interrogation were say ing that if i didnt give them information on who i got these items from, that they could put all of that on me (the guns, tvs, etc.) and try to connect me with the robberies despite the fact that my fingerprints were nowhere to be found in any of the homes....and i was at work and/or school at the time that most of the robberies supposedly took place? do they have a case? i think it was just a sneaky tactic of theirs to try to get me to give up more information on who i bought the merchandise from.

 

[jharris352]

DO NOT TALK TO THE POLICE WITHOUT YOUR ATTORNEY PRESENT!!!!! Yes they were absolutely lying. All of these charges are probably just to scare you into helping them nail the thieves. Your attorney should cut you a deal that you get off entirely in exchange for the information that you know. DO NOT TALK TO POLICE WITHOUT AN ATTORNEY PRESENT. I can't say that enough or with enough emphasis. Your attorney should be working to get you a deal.

 

[scottdeagan]

Ignorance is no excuse!

Unfortunately, ignorance is no excuse. Do you know how many cases of receiving stolen goods go to trial where the defendant uses the "I didn't know" excuse? Unfortunately it just doesn't wash. Think about it - unknown person selling electronic equipment at cheap prices... Something just doesn't gel, right? In some places the act of receiving stolen goods is looked upon as worse than stealing them - the idea being that if people didn't buy stolen goods, then criminals would have less insentive to steal things in the first place.

I wish you all the best with your case. I feel for folks who purchase things not knowing they are stolen and thinking that they can profit from the transaction. We all make mistakes in life - next time try to use some common sense.