[Jesse]

I do not think this is the correct forum for such questions; your best bet would be to contact actual legal professionals. This website is not responsible for any pseudo-legal advice you may receive from users. You have been warned. <br />

[Marcarc]

Yeah, definitely GET a lawyer. Just about anything is possible under our judiciary and it may simply depend on the particular judge. All of those questions you ask go either way-anything is possible. Get legal help, if you can't afford it, get it from the public defendor's office, which is better than nothing. It can depend on the judge and it can depend on your employers input, many want to 'set an example' and it can also depend on your age.<br /> <br /> Since you seem to want some reassurances keep in mind that it is a fairly small crime, and one thing our system likes is a genuinely reformed criminal (but you have to prove that). It may well affect your future employment-it depends on your type of employment. To keep it in perspective CSIS and the Post office have been known to hire ex-cons, and even many members of human rights commissions have been convicted thieves. It's a hardship no doubt, but nothing anybody can't pull through. <br /> <br /> Just as a final thought I can't resist-Man, didn't you know you could just download the stuff legally!<img align=absmiddle src='images/smilies/smile.gif' alt='Smile'>

[lis2005]

LMAO Marcarc - no doubt eh?? You should have just <i>bought</i> some cheap ole blank CD's and gone from there... <br /> <br /> And to the person who posted this forum - welcome to the land of the living... I worked for a major Oil & Gas company, whose quarterly profits were in the billions - my boss drove some car that probably cost him more every month than my mortgage did for me - and as far as my boss is concerned - my boss certainly "owed me" as well. Come to think of it, if you ask any blue-color hard working member on this website they'd say the same thing. I can bet that half of us have never had our cost of living raises - and I'll bet your next one that some big-wig got that and more...!!<br /> <br /> One thing that kind of ticks me off about what you wrote is the end result that I end up paying because of your compulsive behavior... not only do I fork out money to pay for Legal Aid (if you went that road!) - but I end up paying for the stuff you stole. The loss prevention officers you spoke of sit around and figure out ways that they can stop any further loss (note the word "prevention" in their title) - someone's gotta pay for them - so in the process they hike up the prices of their products to make up for the loss of revenue...<br /> <br /> Isn't that great?? I take my lumps, and I don't fight back the system by taking "what they owe me" and in the end, you'll get a slap on the wrist and I'll be paying an extra 5 dollars everytime I walk into the Walmart from now until eternity!!<br /> <br /> Thanks so much - have fun going to the States..<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />

[Kevan Taylor]

get a lawyer, explain everything to the lawyer and then let the lawyer work. There are dozens of different ways it can end and without a lawyer you will find the worst.

[Spud]

Just look at what all the politicians are doing <img align=absmiddle src='images/smilies/mrgreen.gif' alt='Mr. Green'> <br /> You see arrest`s <img align=absmiddle src='images/smilies/twisted.gif' alt='Twisted Evil'> <br /> Svend Robinson stole some expensive goodies,and...nada <img align=absmiddle src='images/smilies/razz.gif' alt='Razz'> <br /> Course you might get an old judge who smokes weed,and prefers underage girls,hates natives,believes he is always right,and thinks Dubya is god <img align=absmiddle src='images/smilies/mrgreen.gif' alt='Mr. Green'> <br /> Get a lawyer <img align=absmiddle src='images/smilies/twisted.gif' alt='Twisted Evil'> <br /> Trust no one <img align=absmiddle src='images/smilies/twisted.gif' alt='Twisted Evil'>

[Zeeboo]

Get a lawyer<br /> <br /> Most people that steal from their workplaces are colledge/university grads (crazy ain't it)... isn't this called like embezzelment? damn I am a bad speller. If so since this is your employer you will have a few more problems than if you were a shoplifter. But I wouldn't really worry about it too much. The next job you apply for will be a very annoying interview seeing as you'll have to explain what happend. anyway good luck to you.

[lis2005]

I am not believing some of the reactions to this thread!!!<br /> <br /> It is not a big secret that most Big-Box chain stores like Walmart, Zellers, etc. always treat their employees like crap, right? I mean - what did Walmart DO in Montreal when they tried to start a union? They SHUT THE STORE DOWN!!<br /> <br /> I sometimes walk into a Walmart (I don't know what store you worked for - but I am using them as an example anyway) and sometimes I feel sorry for some of the people who work there because they work really hard and don't get appreciated nearly as much as they do. But then it dawns on me - working at places like Walmart, or Future Shop is a matter of choice.. you aren't forced to work there - and when you see that your employer isn't appreciative of the things you do, then you quit and find a new job for crying out loud!! You don't steal from them because they owe you anything?? They know that they can replace you with some other poor shlep who doesn't mind not getting a store discount - they just want to pay the bills!!<br /> <br /> There is a reason why the rest of us people pay more for our products - it's not just inflation - it's theft. They take the total amount stolen in one year, and they slightly raise their prices on everything in the store to recover what you stole from them - it doesn't hurt them - it hurts our wallets. It's the same reason why we pay so much for insurance - because people decide that the system "owes them" and they fake injuries... it's the same reason why you need to jump through hoops to get WCB - because people make false claims...!! It actually kind of makes me sick how you can plead your case to the effect of "I know what I did wrong and I am so sorry" - but in reality - you have obviously never lived on the other side of the coin and lived an honest, law-abiding life to which you just want to get by and not take from people what is owed to you.<br /> <br /> Unfortunately - ppl like Svend Robinson and well... the FEDERAL GOV'T let's society know that it's okay to steal money, etc., because they got away with it - and unfortunately higher powers can get away with it - but it doesn't mean that you should too - sorry!!<br /> <br />

[Marcarc]

To the above poster, is case you hadn't noticed, prices at department stores have been going DOWN. Go to a dollar store and look at what you can buy. You can buy a cd player for $15, it's called globalization. Theft doesn't cost nearly what stores claims it does, and it all can be deducted and is insured. Even with people's plummeting cost of living theft is way down-go ask any police officer how often they have to report to stores to pick up offenders. As every store manager ought to know, most theft is from the inside, meaning employees, and typically they are watched the closest.<br /> <br /> What you may be perceiving here is a lack of judgement, which I find to be a good thing. People can pretend that retail prices are 'high', even though the highest inflationary pressures are on things that retailers don't even sell-namely energy. If what you said were true then the most expensive things would be things stolen most often, and that isn't remotely the case. Packaging, video cameras, and security tags have drastically dropped the amount of retail theft. Plus, those most likely to steal things like clothes can find them almost free at Goodwill and Salvation Army. <br /> <br /> Petty theft is almost negligible as far as the size of the economy goes, and personally I can sympathize with the young man as I used to steal quite often when I was a young idiot. I never got caught, and it really was literally a 'growing up' thing, because when I started college I started work at a department store where I literally could have looted the place no problem, but I really had no desire to-probably because I had money and could now afford to. Then I worked for a company that had a government contract to provide computers and I was in charge of inventory, I was a lousy inventory clerk so the system got unbelievably screwed. Quite seriously though I could have started my own business selling brand new 'hot' Compaq computers and they wouldn't have known the difference, but again, there was no desire. Sometimes people just do stupid things, some of us are lucky and the stupidity doesn't land us in jail, but when it does, I'm certainly not going to go apey on a young guy for swiping CD's-hell, there's people dying in New Orleans!<br /> <br /> I don't think anybody was using that as a political point, I've worked for some nasty companies, got paid squat, while the managers who did nothing got paid fortunes. Perhaps like that young man I could have swiped a computer and pretended that 'they owed it to me'. In fact, often I wish I HAD that new computer! But for those 'protesting' Wal Mart I think it's a far stretch to think that those opposing are thinking of getting them back by getting employed and then stealing. Far better would be to get employed and then unionize, or else picket them or start a leaflet campaign. <br /> <br /> But there's a reason this thread died long ago, the guy who posted it has probably already moved on. The day that I get all my energy focused on petty theft rather than institutional theft is the day I stop coming to this website.

[lis2005]

Hi Marcarc!<br /> <br /> the funny thing about this thread is that if the guy hadn't been caught, he wouldn't have been on this forum to begin with crying in his cornflakes.<br /> <br /> I have worked as a Security Officer, as well as a Loss Prevention Agent in previous jobs. Yes, most thefts are typically inside jobs, employees are always stealing from employers. When I was in Loss Prevention, one of my jobs was to inventory each item throughout the year that was stolen, and create a report detailing the types of items that are stolen, as well as the total dollar amounts that are stolen. At which point it would be sent to Head Office. The Head Office would gather all of the reports from all of their other stores, at which point they'd calculate the total amount stolen, and slightly raise the price of those particular items to cover the loss of theft. It could be .25, it could be 1.00!! Yes, they have insurance for things like that, and often times, the employee caught would pay restitution. But that isn't enough for large big-box stores (like Walmart to name one - I am not just picking on Walmart!!), they are in the business to make money... plus they had to pay me - the loss prevention officer - who was hired as an outside consultant from another company, plus any legal fees, etc. There is a lot to recover when someone steals from another company. Prices are going down, heh? You obviously don't have children, OR you only visit the electronics department at Walmart... lol.<br /> <br /> Institution or petty theft, it's all theft to me!! You didn't steal any computers (and most people don't) because it's very hard to end your shift and walk out the door with a computer under your arm and not get noticed (duh). Regardless of whether this guy has moved on or not (probably has - maybe can't chat because he's in jail? lol), a thread on a opinion forum such as this one wouldn't die if ppl keep posting on it... maybe like you?? <br /> <br />