A Michigan woman who was accused of stealing video game controllers was arraigned by the Bay County chief district judge on July 2. According to the report, she was arraigned on multiple charges, including one count of first-degree retail fraud and second-degree retail fraud.
The theft that all of the charges stemmed from occurred on May 21. The footage from a Meijer security camera allegedly showed the accused woman and a second woman enter the store around 12:45 p.m. Surveillance reportedly caught the woman putting the controllers into her purse without their cases before leaving the store. The loss prevention officer stated that she recognized the woman’s picture, which had been taken after a loss prevention officer in another Meijer apparently found her with four controllers. In this case, the woman reportedly told the officer that she was trading out the controllers for heroin.
The authorities got warrants to take the woman into custody on June 25. Her bond was set at $5,000 and her preliminary examination was scheduled to take place on July 15 at 9 a.m. If she is convicted on the charges, she could face up to one year in jail and a $2,000 fine for each second-degree charge while she could face a maximum of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for the first-degree count.
When someone is facing a felony charge, he or she may also be facing a jail sentence and expensive fine if convicted. However, an attorney can try to reduce the potential consequences. If the attorney can reveal extenuating circumstances that led to the defendant’s alleged actions, he or she could negotiate with the prosecution in pursuit of reduced charges.
Source: mlive.com, “Police: Montrose woman goes on video game controller theft spree in Bay, Saginaw counties”, Cole Waterman, July 04, 2014
