Legal Question in Criminal Law in Ohio

A couple of months ago a friend of mine gave me 900.00 then he said to the detective that I didn't pay him back. Four months later the detective called me and told me I had to make payments until April or I will go to jail for felony theft. I never went to court about this. Can I walk away from it or should I continue to make payments??


Asked on 2/21/14, 9:11 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Eric Willison Eric Eastman Willison

In Ohio, a lot depends upon the facts. If you told the friend something that was not true to induce him to give you the money and then did not pay him back, then perhaps it would a criminal matter, but it it was just a standard "can you loan me some money" and then you ran out of money and could not pay it back, then you could argue at a criminal trial that this is a civil matter rather than a criminal one. If you had other debts and not much income, you could even discharge it and the other debts by declaring Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

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Answered on 2/22/14, 4:46 am


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