Theft charges in Colorado can cover a variety of offenses that range all the way from shoplifting to more substantial fraud charges. However, even if you have been convicted of a minor shoplifting charge, or what is often known as petty theft, there may be long-term consequences that may continue even after you have served all your penalties.
Being convicted of theft or shoplifting can leave you with a permanent criminal record, and that translates into lifelong repercussions. Few crimes are looked upon as askance by potential employers and personal friends alike as theft.
There can be devastating long-term consequences for your employment potential. With a theft conviction on your record, you may never be able to find a job in a number of occupations that involve financial responsibility or authorization to handle large amounts of cash. A theft conviction will not look great on your record when you’re applying for a job in an accounting department, or as a cashier.
Most businesses will not even consider employing a person who has a theft conviction on his record, because of the trust factor. What a theft crime conviction on your record indicates is that you may not be the kind of person who can be trusted, especially when it comes to financial or monetary matters.
Besides, if you are a professional, that conviction on your record can affect your professional license. You could lose your license or have it suspended.
There are other long-term consequences that can affect your accommodations. For instance, if you are looking to rent a house, you should not be surprised to find that the landlord refers to your criminal background and decides not to rent out his property to you because of your theft conviction. A landlord may be well within his rights to refuse to rent you the property because of your criminal conviction, as he has a duty to other tenants of the property to protect them from criminal activity. A theft crime conviction can also affect your personal and social lives.
Unfortunately, many of these crimes are often committed under duress when the person is pushed beyond his limits due to financial difficulties, or may be the result of a genuine mistake. None of these factors however will matter when it comes to paying the consequences of a conviction.
