Woodland Park NJ Shoplifting Defense Attorneys
Woodland Park (formerly “West Paterson) NJ Criminal Defense
Travis J. Tormey of the Tormey Law Firm LLC recently represented a client charged with shoplifting in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:20-11. The alleged shoplifting was an amount under $200, so it was graded as a disorderly persons offense and was handled in the Woodland Park Municipal Court. As such, if our client was convicted of this offense he would be subject to the following penalties: up to a $1,000 fine, up to six (6) months in the Passaic County Jail, possible probation, and a permanent criminal charge on his record. This criminal charge could be expunged off his record after 5 years in certain cases. In addition, because our client was not a United States citizen, this “crime of moral turpitude” could lead to serious immigration consequences such as denial of a green card or even deportation.
Our client had no prior criminal history and was charged with shoplifting from a store in Woodland Park. Based on the alleged amount of the shoplift (it was not a high amount), our client’s completely clean record, and the circumstances surrounding the alleged charge, our shoplifting defense lawyers were able to negotiate a plea arrangement with the Woodland Park Municipal Prosecutor whereby the criminal charge was amended to a local ordinance violation for creating a disturbance in the store. This is a violation of local law and is on the level of a littering ticket or leaving your garbage at the curb on the wrong day. This violation results in a fine and no criminal record.
This was a very important result for the client as he was able to preserve his clean record and potentially avoid any serious immigration consequences as well.