Many people who are facing criminal charges focus heavily on the sentence the court may impose if they’re convicted, but that’s not the only consequences that you need to think about if you’re facing charges right now.
If you’re facing theft charges, you will likely find that there are many ways that your future could be affected beyond the court-imposed sentence.
Severity of charge may matter
A theft charge involves accusations of you taking someone else’s property or services without permission and with the intent of depriving the owner of what you took. This can be in the form of shoplifting, employee theft, credit card misuse, fraud or several other circumstances.
Some theft charges are misdemeanors, but others are felonies. Typically, felony theft charges will have more profound effects on your future. One of the primary ways either type of charge will affect you is that you’ll have to go to court, which could mean having to take time off work.
Another significant effect of these charges is that you may not be able to continue with your present employment, and it may be difficult to find future employment, particularly if you’re convicted. Many jobs require that they can trust you with goods, money, proprietary information, customer information or other company property. Those employers may not be willing to take a chance to have someone accused or convicted of theft working for the company.
It may be possible to mitigate the effects of the theft charges by working on your defense strategy as proactively as possible. Working with a legal professional who can help you to determine what defense options might be suitable for your case may be beneficial, given all that is at stake – potentially including your present and future employment.
