Two Sisters Charged with Shoplifting on Military Base: Dismissed
Two sisters were charged with Shoplifting various items from a store on a military installation. One sister was a military service member. The other sister was a civilian but married to a service member. The second sister was also a foreign national with a pending application for naturalized U.S. Citizenship based upon her marriage to a U.S. Soldier. The government alleged that the two sisters entered a retail store on the military base referred to as the Post Exchange or PX. Loss prevention agents working in the store observed the women on video surveillance conceal a number of retail items in their purses and pass by the store point of sale without making payment. Agents detained the sisters one inside the store and the other outside the store. Once in custody agents asked each woman to relinquish the items that they had stolen from the store. The women emptied their respective bags which contained a variety of stolen items such as clothing shoes cellular phone accessories and cosmetics. The total value of the stolen items amounted to several hundred dollars. Though all of the merchandise was recovered the women were turned over to police and criminally charged with Shoplifting or Larceny. The two sisters retained Attorneys John L. Calcagni III and John R. Grasso to represent them against these criminal charges. Each woman had a lot to lose if convicted of the charged offense. One sister’s military career was in jeopardy and the second sister was at risk for being denied naturalized citizenship. Because the alleged offenses occurred on a military installation the crimes were charged and prosecuted in United States District Court (i.e. Federal Court). Attorney Calcagni and Grasso worked effortlessly with prosecutors to reach an amicable resolution that protected the women’s futures. After tireless negotiations Attorneys Calcagni and Grasso successfully persuaded prosecutors to dismiss the sisters’ charges upon completion of community service and authoring letters of apology to the PX management and military leadership. The women performed their penance and successfully had their cases dismissed. Congratulations to these sisters who will not incur criminal records from this incident and whose military career and immigration application respectfully shall remain intact.