Fraud, Embezzlement, Bad Checks Scared and don't know what to do.

[BlooBlooBloo]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: KY

I was working at this store that employed maybe 10-15 people roughly 7 years ago. They paid all the employees under the table and the owner made false tax reports never reporting all the hours his employers worked or the amount of income he made.
I made the mistake of using their PayPal account to purchase items off eBay and just putting the money into the register.
The owner confronted me one day with the police and asked what had happened. I told him, he said he didn't believe I had put in anything into the register but said he wouldn't press charges if I worked off what everything I had used. I think it was roughly around 3k and I was told that was a felony and it scared the crap out of me. I was also told by the owner after the cops left that if I tried to get him in trouble that he could get me even worse...
I ended up moving away for school and they said to just send them money. I had trouble finding a job so they allowed me to post to their online store. Eventually they stopped communicating with me and I them. They never mentioned how much I had left to work off or anything.
I ended up dating the owner's best friend's step-daughter and nothing still was ever said to me. I would see one of the old managers at a high school I once graduated from and still nothing said.
Today I had my family at a park and it just so happened that the other manager showed up with his family. A cop pulled in and we talked to him educating our little three year old girl that if she should ever get lost or scared she could trust the officer to help her find us again. He drove off and we started getting into the car. The manager left his wife and kids, got into his vehicle without saying a word, drove up to where the cop was, talked to him for a little bit and drove off.

I sent that manager a message on Facebook asking if there was anyway I could make amends and try and straighten things out but he hasn't even read it.

My worry is that he called the cops, now they're trying to press charges and i should be expecting police to come and pick me up any minute now.

Do I have any kind of leg to stand on or is it a simple matter of their word against mine? And if they still have receipts from my purchases I'm pretty sure I'm screwed.

But it would also seem that the receipts are also the only proof that they have of ever paying me anything for working for them.

Honestly I'm scared and I don't even know what I should do. I'm not a criminal, I'm just now starting a family and I'd honestly work with them if given the chance but I don't want to lose my family and everything I've been working towards because of something stupid that happened seven years ago. :/

 

[ElleMD]

Your story is kind of convoluted. 7 years ago you stole money from your employer to the tune of 3K. The employer agreed not to press charges if you repaid the money. You did half-heartedly for years, but never the full amount. Now you are concerned that charges may be brought?

If that is correct you have a few options.
1. If it will make you feel better, send the rest of the money you owe. It would be best if you had something drawn up that states this is to repay the debt in full, and though it may not be legally binding and this guy may still never add you to his Christmas card list, your conscience would be clear.

2. Let it go. Accept that this guy is never going to be your BFF as you stole from him and move on.

3. Similar to above but wait and see what happens. If charges are never brought, and chances are good that 7 years later they will not-especially if you were a minor and no longer are, move on.

You can see the SOL for common offenses here http://www.lexingtonkylawfirm.com/legal-resources/kentucky-statutes-of-limitations/ Note that this does not mean that a charge can't be made outside that period, or this guy can't make life unpleasant in other ways.

 

[shrinkmaster]

I am a Retail theft consultant and answer questions like yours daily. The SOL has likely expired and if your former employer wanted to file he would have likely by now. Cease all further contact as your contacts are admissions of guilt most likely. Save all attempts you have made to resolve the situation including your last message showing your trying to make this right.