Legal Question in Criminal Law in Virginia

Re: Shoplifting/Petty Larceny

Shoplifting(under $200) and petit larceny are both classified as Class 1 misdemeanor offenses under the Virginia Criminal Code, punishable by a fine of up to $2500 and 12 months in jail, either or both. However, if the person charged with the aforereferenced offenses is a minor, he or she will be prosecuted as a juvenile in the J&DRDC and, upon a finding by the judge of "not innocent", likely will receive some sort of indeterminate sentence with penalties far less rigorous than those that would normally be imposed upon an adult convicted of such crimes. (The fact, however, that the minor has two consecutive offenses pending against her ,and, apparently, has violated the conditions of her pretrial release with respect to the first one, will only make matters worse for her than they would otherwise be with merely one such offense pending.)