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credit card fraud punishment?
does anyone know what the punishment for credit card fraud is in ohio. this guy did not know he did it because he was very dunk, but there is a picture of him buying cigarettes and a case of coca cola. any one know what the punishment will be if he is guilt?
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According to the Ohio State Penal code, both petty theft and credit card fraud under 500 dollars are misdemeanors of the first degree. Up to six months in jail and a fine not to exceed 1000 dollars. Your friend could be charged with either, but it'll probably be credit card fraud.
You should know that the end of that sentence on both is "depending on the severity of the offense". You didn't post the actual situation, but you should know that the DA must prove criminal intent to defraud to convict on this misdemeanor. Given that it's a first offense with an extremely low dollar value, it might be possible to prove or push towards "he was drunk in public and did not intend to use another person's card, did not know what he was doing" or something similar. In a case like this, the DA might be willing to allow your friend to plead guilty/no contest to a lesser charge, public intoxication being the logical choice. In Ohio I believe it's actually part of disorderly conduct in the penal code.
Public intoxication/disorderly conduct is a fourth degree misdemeanor, punishable by a jail sentence not to exceed thirty days and a fine of 500 or less. Your friend might be able to get a deferred adjudication, which means you plead no contest, go on probation for six months to a year, and the charge is dismissed when you successfully complete probation and all you have is an arrest record.
Your friend should know that deferred adjudication or whatever it might be called in Ohio is seldom cheap. They'll get some money out of him by putting him through addiction classes, alcohol classes, or outpatient rehab. But having no conviction record is worth that cost, and when he's past this in ten years he can pay to have his records sealed if the deal is made.
Note: Probation and the deferred adjudication concept are different. Probation is a possible sentence where he gets the conviction and then has to be monitored, which is something the DA might try to propose. If probation is proposed, he should talk to his lawyer about options which result in a dismissal of the charge and options about plea bargaining on a lesser charge given the relative lack of severity of the offense. Speaking of lawyers...
Whatever happens, your friend needs to lawyer up. Fast. I highly recommend finding an attorney who is not the public defender. Point blank public defenders generally act in whatever way makes their lives easier. They have to work with the judges, DAs, and cops every day. They'll probably never see you again. And they the money your friend's conviction brings in pays their salary too.
A first degree misdemeanor isn't the end of the world, but a conviction related to credit cards will prevent him from working anywhere he has to be anywhere near cash for a long, long time. It could be a serious bar to future employment, it could cause issues with college if he's going to school. Tell him to take it seriously, and to find the resources to hire a decent lawyer who he can afford to pay to take this to court, if necessary. Most lawyers charge a retainer just to work with your case, and the costs increase if you choose to go to trial. Tell him to do what he has to. Call family, beg parents, take out a bank loan, but get the money and get the lawyer.
Given the possibility of a jury trial, the DA will more than likely not want to waste his time and cut a cheap deal that gets your friend out of his face. If it goes to trial the jury might not convict, and it all goes away.
The criminal justice system is designed to steamroll over those who don't have the money to fight or don't want to, and those who don't know someone who can speak effectively on their behalf. If your friend has teachers who would write about him being an exemplary student, bosses who would describe him as a person of character, and good friends who would do the same, it could go a long way towards convincing a judge or DA to deal. Convince the DA he's a drunken idiot who made an honest mistake and there's a fair chance of him being dismissed as "not a threat to society" and being shooed away with a slap on the wrist.
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