Hey guys I used to work at a grocery store in Ontario Canada. They are charging me with 7 counts of fraud under $5000. The actual total comes out to just under $1200. So the story is that I had an employee come through for the past couple of months and buy some stuff. The thing is that he would tell me the price so I would put it in because we always have stuff ring up wrong all the time and I trusted him because he used to work there. Apparently recently he began returning the items for full price meaning that he was lying to me and now I am being charged with fraud. I understand it was my fault for not checking the prices and I have offered to pay back the full amount. The loss prevention officer for the complany kept accusing me of having a plan for this to make a profit off it but that couldn't be farther from the truth. I did not have a plan and I did not deliberately do this to cause harm to the company. The Guy did not believe me and called the cops at which point I was arrested and given a date to appear in court. I am fine with paying back the amount because that is my fault for trusting the Guy however I want to avoid a criminal record. I am 19 years old and have a clean record. Any help would be appreciated.

By the way he also told me that they had been watching me for some time which makes me question why they did not stop me before hand and explain to me what I had done wrong.

They didn't stop you because they were looking for hard evidence - happens all the time. Pretty much a no brainer.

Try to get into the diversion program (although I understand you cannot if the charge is theft from an employer).

Here's something I wrote:

“Ontario diversion program guidelines vary from region to region, courthouse to Courthouse. Eligibility for such a program is ALWAYS determined by the Crown Attorney’s office. There are no exceptions. You are not required to have legal counsel in order to apply.

If the offense - theft - is not major (property was recovered, not a large amount, not a repeat offender) the Crown Attorney MAY approve eligibility into the diversion program prior to the Court appearance. If there are prior dealings with the Police - and charges do not have to be placed, any prior dealings of a negative nature - the person will most likely not be eligible for the diversion program.

As part of the diversion program the eligible person will have to agree to complete certain tasks or obligations - perhaps watch a video, make a donation or volunteer time to a not-for-profit, write a paper on the crime.

When the tasks/obligations have been competed to the satisfaction of the Crown’s Attorney he/she will recommend to the Judge that the criminal charge (usually, theft) be withdrawn.

Each courthouse in Ontario has a different diversion program and eligibility requirements differ from region to region. Eligibility for the diversion program is always determined by the Crown Attorney's office. If they deem a theft offence to be of a minor nature (usually a small quantity of merchandise was taken and the property was recovered), the Crown may pre-approve eligibility into the diversion program. A person will not generally be eligible for diversion if they have had prior dealings with the police (even if it did not result in a criminal charge being laid). Once in the diversion program, the eligible candidate may be asked to complete one of a number of different tasks. In some jurisdictions, a person charged with theft may be required to watch a video on shoplifting. In other jurisdictions they may be required to make a donation to charity or complete a minimum number of community service hours - or both. Regardless of the requirements, the end result is usually the same. Once the diversion program has been completed to the satisfaction of the Crown Attorney, the Crown will recommend to the court that the criminal charge of theft be withdrawn against the accused person. This will result in the accused person maintaining a clean record (assuming they didn't have a prior criminal record).

If a person is not pre-screened as eligible for the diversion program, a lawyer may be able to convince a Crown Attorney to reconsider their decision.”

I understand that they were looking for evidence but confronting me about it after the 7th incident seems excessive.

Maybe to you, not to the Police.

If the diversion program does not work out what sort of penalties would I be looking at?

I don't know - most definitely restitution, a fine, probation. Courts are harder on employee/employer theft than theft from a stranger. Definitely a permanent record.

I don't see jail time.

Thanks for the answering my questions so quickly JudyKayTee.

I just have one last question. Will this completely cripple my career plans considering the fact that I am currently in college completing a bachelors in business and have Co-op next summer. I have been reading online that having a criminal record can greatly hurt your chances of getting a job.

Thanks again