not yet stick wrote:
I agree, and if this person is completely innocent then they have hopefully learned a valuable lesson. Whats good is that bluedallas has a chance of getting back what is rightfully his. The police will investigate and find out what the story is.
There are four types of crimes that are considered theft in Texas: shoplifting, writing bad checks, general theft and
buying/selling stolen property.Theft is a crime of moral turpitude in the state of Texas, which means that sort of dishonesty is frowned upon by the general public. This person is not only facing jail time but also the very real possibility that landlords and employers will not feel any inclination to do any kind of transaction with them soley based on a bad decision which will forever reflect on the quality of their character.
Per Texas Penal Code, theft is taking someone else's property without consent, either by deception or by physically stealing it. It doesn't matter how long you've had it to be considered theft - all the prosecution has to show that this individual had
criminal intent when taking the property and knew that it belonged to someone else.
It's not going to wash in a Texas court that this guy got it off a friend who got it off a friend who found it in the street because it fell off the back of a truck.
That this Stick probably cost more than $1500 (but less than $20K) at the time it was purchased this individual is looking at
a felony conviction and
state prison time - more than a year in the pen.
If this Stick is less than $1500 and the person selling it has prior convictions for buying/selling stolen property this person is still looking at a felony case with state prison time.
Mind you I am not talking about what this person paid for it - I'm talking about what the rightful owner paid for it and what it was valued at the time he purchased it. That's going to be a determinant factor when they sentence this individual.
This person's looking at about 2-5...years.
They don't play in Texas, folks. That's the last state in America you want to be caught doing anything monumentally stupid.
Now Texas law may cut this person some slack if they cooperate and drop a dime on somebody, but there's a whole new can of worms right there because they're forever going to be branded a "snitch" - and that could cost this individual their life.
Reference: Texas Penal Code Sec. 31.03.
http://www.bakers-legal-pages.com/pc/3103.htmIn short: this person had the bad form to buy/sell a stolen item in the state of Texas - a state that has some of the most draconian penalties in comparison to where you live. If you think this is harsh for theft, you should bear in mind that this is also the state that has an express line for capital offenses and executes more death row inmates than the rest of the United States.
This person is about as screwed as screwed gets. God help this person if they're the one who actually stole it - because the selling stolen property rap isn't the only one they're going to take and they better hope the judge decides the sentences are going to run concurrently.