Legal Question in Criminal Law in Florida

I was charged with Grand Theft/Organized Fraud by a man I once worked for as his General Manager of his restaurant. He is charging I used my company debit card for charges he would not have approved of. The State Attorney has not yet filed charges yet and now my former employer wants to settle out of court and have charges dropped on his side, can he do this and if not what are the chances the SAO will actually drop the charges just beacuse he wants them dropped? This has not gone to court yet and we both want to settle out of court. But I need to know before I settle that it will be in my best interest my intent is to stay out of trouble (mostly jail) and somehow avoid a messy law suite over a too long period of time.


Asked on 5/28/11, 2:02 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Craig Epifanio Craig Epifanio, P.A.

The good news and bad news in your situation is one important factor. Your manager can not bring charges on his own which is the good news, but the potentially bad news is that while he can't bring charges, the State attorney still can; that is, if they can prove it which they may or may not be able to do. Since it appears that both of you want to settle this out of court, I strongly suggest you do settle without making any kind of admissions. An attorney may not be necessary but it would avoid the possibility of you making any admissions that could be used against you in criminal court. If you come to a settlement, you greatly increase your chances that a criminal case will be brought. If you can't pay it all up front, get a contract (again, preferably reviewed by an attorney) to allow you to make payment plans.

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Answered on 5/28/11, 6:18 pm


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