I was arrested and charged with theft under $5000 because I admitted to taking $140 (t-shirt, jacket, shoes) worth of things, now I felt horrible while doing this, I really do. The reason is basically because the other employees were doing it. They all admitted but I was the only person who was arrested, I know it doesn't change the fact I still did it. I foolishly wrote a confession letter, the LP said it wasn't (can't believe I fell for that one). Also This is my first ever offence, never had anything other crime against me in my past, not even a traffic ticket, I'm 21 years old. I am a 3rd year criminology major, I've consulted with a lawyer ( a friend of a friend) who told me to ask about diversion on my first appearance, I plan on talking to duty counsel when I go, hopefully everything does work out for me. I have read a lot of people post this kind of thread on this website, but very little of them talk about the result, can anyone send me links, or determine the best possible outcome for me.

I've studied crim for 3 years non stop, I don't want this charge to have to make me change careers.

By the way, In the confession letter, I stated that I took some of the products because I was not getting hours at work and did not have money to pay for them, spur of the moment kind of thing. For the shoes I came in on an off day and took them with the help of an employee. Like I said I feel terrible and wish I could take back every minute.
Please any answers would help. Thank You.

This happened in BC, Canada by the way

Most get approved, but yes the diversion program is the way to go.

Also, I wanted to pay back the store ever since the incident happened (Feb 19th), but my manager told me to wait until I was contacted because the investigation was ongoing, so once it was over, I told her I was willing to pay everything back, basically by giving her the money and printing out a receipt for me since I can't enter the store, she said she has to wait until a response from head office, its almost been 2 weeks now, and my court date is mid-april, and head office has still not responded, she won't let me do anything until she gets confirmation... anything I can do?
I know this is a lot of info to take in but I appreciate it!

I know it's generally frowned upon in this forum to try and continue old threads, but what happened in the end?