Grand Theft

Defendant worked for a major department store as a cashier. She realized how easy it was to activate gift cards, and decided to activate several gift cards for her own personal use. She then redeemed the cards at other locations. Additionally, a customer had come through her line and used a credit card. The customer left without the credit card which was still at defendant’s cash register. Defendant used the credit card information to make several purchases. When the defendant was arrested it was determined that she had fraudulently purchased several thousand dollars worth of merchandise.

The defendant was a nineteen year old girl with no criminal history. Additionally, she came from a hard working family that was doing all they could to put the defendant through college. Defendant felt bad that she was costing her family so dearly and took a part-time job. She was embarrassed to ask her parents for money for clothes, so she engaged in her gift card scam. Rich presented the defendant’s personal history to the DA and showed that it was not in her character or upbringing to commit such a crime. The DA agreed and the defenseI was able to negotiate probation, no jail time, and reduction to misdemeanor after 18 months