Legal Question in Consumer Law in Missouri

Hey all,

~About a year ago next week I started my shoplifting spree. I was hitting just about every store I could see. Getting a thrill out of doing it just for the excitement. Anyways since then, I have sold a few different items online on various different websites. Where I live the misdemeanor turns into a felony at $500 and I am past that number at a few different stores. I knew the ins and outs about how to do it without getting caught. I had tools that helped me remove tags. I was getting anything and everything I wanted. Let me make this loud and clear.... I NEVER GOT CAUGHT OR ARRESTED.

~Anyways....what I did, I am not happy with the decisions I have made. I'm looking for some legal advice about, how far down the line can they come find me and charge me? How will they have proof that I did it if I don't have the product I lifted? (I know they have cameras, but the cameras they use have very low resolution from the distance they are trying to observe). I haven't taken anything since April so I have been done for quite a while because I really can't afford to get in trouble.

~Also, I just talked to a guy at a bar last weekend and he told me he took one part of a car stereo and got charged 3 months down the line.Lastly, I know it was wrong and I know I made very bad decisions

So to sum it up...Is there anything I can do to protect myself now in order to not get in trouble in the future? Or is there any way I could get out of the trouble I got myself into?

Thanks


Asked on 7/16/14, 3:47 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony Smith LawSmith

If you anonymously (or through legal counsel) send the remaining goods back to the respective stores, you might lessen the chance that you will be prosecuted. Otherwise, you have upto three years from the time you sell the last item in which you can be prosecuted. Don't underestimate the evidentiary value of security cameras. Obviously, if you do anymore theft you could be prosecuted as a habitual felon.

Good luck

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Answered on 7/17/14, 3:08 pm


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