One of the many pieces of advice that I have received from my mother over the years is that there are no free lunches. (along with never drink anything that looks like aqua velva or comes with an umbrella - it will give you a wicked hangover)
In Pasco County this week there are two cases where the defendant's have been charged with grand theft and people were looking for a "free lunch".
In the first case, a man became friendly with the parents on his kids sporting teams and swindled money out of them for alleged investments. Unfortunately, there were no "investments."(St. Petersburg Times 3/25/11) But the defendant was so convincing that one vicitm cashed in on his retirement because he was told he would make so much money that the tax penalty wouldn't be an issue. Word to the wise: if you take money out of your retirement savings, the tax penalty is HUGE and I can think of no LEGAL investment to overcome that penalty. Needless to say, the victim is out all of his money, and probably on the hook for the tax penalty.
In the second case, the defendant, a paralegal, was looking for a free lunch by stealing the money of the lawyer's clients.(St. Petersburg Times 3/24/11) The lawyer, who was a co-defendant, has since been sentenced to prison, the paralegal remains free if she can come up with $7500 in RESTITUTION by the end of April. This raises a question - If someone is charged with theft and they pay back the restitution owed to the victims, can they get out of the charges? Generally the answer is NO. However, paying back the restitution can often mitgate a sentence. For example, in the above case, the paralegal paid back $20,000 in restitution already. Her attorney and the State must have worked out a deal with the victims who would rather have their money back than have her sitting in jail. But she'll still have years of probation and felony charges on her record.
In the first case, even if somehow the defendant was able to pay back all the money he'd stolen, he's most likely looking at prison time. If you have been charged with a theft offense - call us - we'll give you a free consultation - how's that for a free lunch?
