The criminal offense of shoplifting or retail theft can be charged as either a misdemeanor ("petit theft") or a felony ("grand theft"). Any theft offense, whether a misdemeanor or a felony, is considered a "crime of dishonesty", which makes it an impeachable offense. This means that if you are ever a witness in a trial, you can be cross examined regarding your prior record and it will be argued that you are not worthy of belief because you have this prior conviction.
Petit theft crimes for shoplifting are the most commonly prosecuted crimes in the State of Florida. In many of these case, an innocent mistake can turn into a criminal accusation even for a person with no prior criminal record.
The vast majority of my clients charged with petit theft are people who have never been arrested before. In many of these cases, my clients are concerned about the impact the prosecution will have on their family or employment opportunities in the future.