NJ Shoplifting Charges

NJ Shoplifting Charges

New Jersey’s shoplifting statute isn’t designed to punish you proportionally for what you took. It’s designed to aggregate and escalate. The same law that handles a teenager pocketing lip gloss also handles organized retail theft rings operating across multiple counties. The difference between a disorderly persons offense and a felony carrying years in state prison comes down to a price tag – not your intent, not your history, not the circumstances. Cross the $200 threshold and you’re facing a fourth degree crime. Cross $500 and it’s third degree. And if a prosecutor can aggregate multiple incidents under a “scheme or course of conduct,” what looked like two minor thefts suddenly becomes one serious felony.

Welcome to Spodek Law Group. We put this information on our website because most people charged with shoplifting in New Jersey have absolutely no idea what they’re actually facing. They think shoplifting means a slap on the wrist. Maybe some community service. Maybe a fine. They don’t realize that the same charge that sounds minor can trigger deportation for non-citizens, destroy professional licenses for nurses and teachers, and create a permanent criminal record that follows them to every job application for the rest of their life. Our goal is to make sure you understand the reality before you make decisions that can’t be undone.

The system is built on three traps that work together. First, the value aggregation trap – where prosecutors can combine multiple incidents into a single charge. Second, the Crime of Moral Turpitude classification – which treats shoplifting the same as fraud for immigration purposes. Third, the civil penalty system – which lets retailers sue you civilly on top of criminal prosecution. This creates a triple-threat where a single afternoon of bad decisions can destroy your immigration status, your career, and your finances simultaneously.

The $200 Cliff – Where Misdemeanor Becomes Felony

Heres how New Jerseys shoplifting law actualy works. The value of what you took determines the grade of the offense. Not your intent. Not wheather you planned it or acted on impulse. Just the price tag.

Under $200 in merchandise and your facing a disorderly persons offense. Thats handled in municipal court. Maximum penalty is six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Most first-time offenders get a diversionary program. Sound reasonable so far?

Take something worth $200 and everything changes. Now its a fourth degree crime. Your case moves to Superior Court. Your facing up to 18 months in state prison and a $10,000 fine. The difference between $199 and $201 isnt two dollars. Its the difference between municipal court and Superior Court. Between a disorderly persons offense and an indictable crime. Between six months maximum and 18 months maximum.

But wait – it gets worse. Cross $500 and your looking at a third degree crime. Three to five years in state prison. Up to $15,000 in fines. And at $75,000 or above, your facing a second degree crime with five to ten years and a $150,000 fine.

The thresholds are arbitrary but the consequences arnt. A price tag dosent measure your culpability. It dosent measure your intent. It definately dosent measure wheather your a danger to society. But in New Jersey, the price tag IS the charge.

The Aggregation Trap – How One Afternoon Becomes One Felony

Heres the part that genuinly surprises people. Under N.J.S.A. 2C:20-11, prosecutors can aggregate the value of merchandise across multiple incidents if they were “committed pursuant to one scheme or course of conduct.”

Think about what that means. You walk through a mall and shoplift a $150 item from one store, then a $150 item from another store. Each incident individualy is a disorderly persons offense. But a prosecutor can add them together – $150 plus $150 equals $300 – and now your facing a fourth degree crime.

It dosent stop there. The April 2025 law (A4755/S3587) that Governor Murphy signed created a one-year lookback period for aggregation. Prosecutors can now combine incidents from the past twelve months to determine the grade of your offense. Something you did six months ago that seemed like it was behind you can suddenly be agregated with todays incident to create felony exposure.

Look at the Smith and Ellen case. Two suspects charged with second-degree organized retail theft across 28 municipalities. Individually, many of those incidents might have been minor. Aggregated, they became second degree charges carrying five to ten years in state prison. The aggregation rule was designed to combat organized retail theft rings – but it applies to everyone. The same math that catches professional shoplifting crews catches someone who made two impulsive mistakes in the same afternoon.

The Immigration Time Bomb – Why CIMT Changes Everything

OK so heres the thing nobody explains untill its to late. Shoplifting in New Jersey is classified as a Crime Involving Moral Turpitude. CIMT. That classification puts shoplifting in the same category as fraud, forgery, and other crimes that “shock the public conscience.”

For U.S. citizens, CIMT classification dosent matter much. For everyone else – green card holders, visa holders, DACA recipients, anyone without citizenship – it changes absolutly everything.

Under federal immigration law, conviction for a CIMT can trigger deportation, prevent naturalization, and make you permanantly inadmissable to the United States. The rules are complex, but heres the simplified version: if your convicted of a CIMT within five years of admission to the U.S., and the potential sentence is one year or more, your deportable. Fourth degree shoplifting in New Jersey carries up to 18 months. That exceeds the threshold.

Even if you recieve a suspended sentence and dont serve a single day in jail, the CIMT conviction still triggers immigration consequences. Its not about the punishment you actualy recieved. Its about the punishment you could of recieved. And for many people, deportation is permanant. Your family stays here. You go. Forever.

Defense attorneys in New Jersey work hand-in-hand with immigration attorneys for exactly this reason. The goal isnt just avoiding jail time. Its avoiding the conviction altogether – or at least getting the charge amended to something like disorderly conduct under 2C:33-2a, which isnt classified as a CIMT.

Thats what Todd Spodek and the team at Spodek Law Group understand. The courtroom consequences are just the begining. The immigration consequences can be far worse.

Civil + Criminal – You Pay Twice

Heres another trap most people dont see coming. Under N.J.S.A. 2A:61C-1, retailers can sue you civily for shoplifting on top of criminal prosecution. This isnt either/or. Its both.

The civil statute lets merchants demand:

• The value of the merchandise (up to $500 if not returned in orignal condition)
• Additional damages from the incident
• A civil penalty of up to $150

Large retailers like Target and Walmart routinly send civil demand letters to accused shoplifters. These letters demand payment – typicaly several hundred dollars – and threaten further action if you dont comply. The letters are legal. The demands are enforcable.

And heres the kicker: paying the civil demand dosent stop the criminal prosecution. You can write a check to the retailer and still face criminal charges. You can plead guilty in criminal court and still get sued civily. The two systems run paralell.

This means your paying twice. Criminal fines and restitution to the court. Civil penalties and demands to the retailer. For the same incident. Becuase New Jersey law explicitly allows both forms of recovery.

The Conditional Dismissal Myth

When people hear they might qualify for a diversionary program like Conditional Dismissal or PTI (Pretrial Intervention), they think there problem is solved. Complete the program, charges dismissed, record cleared. Right?

Wrong.

Completing a diversionary program does NOT automatically clear your record. Following successful completion, the State still maintains a record of your arrest and the charges against you. That record shows up on background checks. It shows up when employers search your name. It shows up when you apply for professional licenses.

To actualy remove the record, you have to file a seperate expungement petition under N.J.S.A. 2C:52-6. You have to wait six months after the dismissal before you can file. You have to pay filing fees. You have to go through the process.

For citizens, this is annoying but managable. For non-citizens, its potentialy catastrophic. Even if the charges are eventualy dismissed through a diversionary program, the underlying conduct – the shoplifting itself – still occured. Immigration authorities can still consider it. USCIS can still use it against you in naturalization proceedings. The diversionary program protects you from criminal conviction but may not protect your immigration status.

And heres one more thing nobody mentions: these programs are generaly one-time-only. Use Conditional Dismissal now and you cant use it again. Ever. That single opportunity is gone. If you make another mistake later in life, you face the full consequences with no safety net.

What a Third Offense Really Means

The consequences escalate dramaticaly with repeat offenses. New Jersey law specificaly targets third and subsequent shoplifting convictions with mandatory minimum sentences.

For a first offense: at least ten days of community service. For a second offense: at least fifteen days of community service. For a third or subsequent offense: mandatory minimum imprisonment of not less than 90 days.

Read that again. Ninety days in jail. Mandatory. Not discretionary. Not “up to.” The judge has no choice. Conviction for a third shoplifting offense means you serve at least three months in jail regardless of the circumstances.

This is were the aggregation trap becomes especialy dangerous. If prosecutors can combine multiple incidents, each aggregated charge counts as a seperate offense for repeat offender purposes. Your history catches up with you – and the system is designed to make sure it does.

The April 2025 law made this even more severe. Under the new provisions, repeat offenders can be sentenced to extended terms beyond the normal maximums. The task force established by the law specificaly targets repeat shoplifters. And assault against a retail employee during a shoplifting incident is now automaticaly upgraded to aggravated assault.

What Defense Attorneys Actually Do

State v. Smith established that courts can dismiss trivial shoplifting under the de minimis doctrine. In that case, the defendant shoplifted three pieces of bubble gum worth fifteen cents. The court dismissed it as trivial based on multiple factors including the defendants clean criminal record.

But thats the exception, not the rule. Most shoplifting cases arnt dismissed as de minimis. Most prosecuters wont agree. Most judges wont buy it. The de minimis defense exists, but relying on it is like planning to win the lottery.

What actualy happens is this. Defense attorneys at firms like Spodek Law Group investigate the case immediatly. We look at whether the stop was lawful. We examine wheather the evidence supports the charges. We identify weaknesses in the prosecutions case.

Then we negotiate. The goal is often getting the charge reduced to something that avoids the worst consequences. For non-citizens, that might mean an amendment to a non-CIMT offense like disorderly conduct. For professionals, it might mean avoiding any conviction that triggers licensing board review. For everyone, it means minimizing the damage.

Sometimes we fight for dismissal. Sometimes we negotiate the best possible plea. Sometimes we go to trial. But we dont let clients walk into court unprepared. We dont let them accept deals without understanding the consequences. And we definately dont let them treat shoplifting charges like parking tickets.

Call Spodek Law Group at 212-300-5196. We operate out of the Woolworth Building in Manhattan and handle cases throughout New Jersey. The consultation is free. The information you get could save your career, your immigration status, or your freedom.

Shoplifting in New Jersey isnt what you think it is. The thresholds. The aggregation. The CIMT classification. The civil penalties. The repeat offender minimums. Every piece of this system is designed to escalate consequences beyond what you expect. Take it seriously. Get help now. Dont let a price tag determine your future.