Small Crimes, Big Penalties

There are a lot of small, very common laws that most people break on a daily basis because they either do not know it is illegal or they assume that everyone else is breaking it so there is no harm done. However, if you are charged with this crime, the punishment can be much worse than you initially think. Here are some laws that are frequently broken and their potential penalties.

Nearly every person has jaywalked at one point or another. Either there’s a break in the traffic and you don’t want to or have time to go down to the crosswalk. The typical fine for jaywalking is around $125 but if you cause an accident by jaywalking, you can be charged with negligence and possibly sued for damages. A similar crime that most people have done is littering. While most people try not to, they have littered at some point in their life. A fine for littering can range from $50 to $500 depending on where the littering occurred.

Stealing cable can be viewed as a victimless crime. Cable companies are multi-billion dollar corporations so the fact that one person is taking cable for free shouldn’t have any effect on them. It is very easy for cable companies to spot someone stealing their cable. It can result in fines of hundreds to thousands of dollars and depending on the length and number of time being caught, could produce jail time.

Just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t mean you should to. These smaller crimes can have bigger penalties so if you get charged with one of them, contact an experienced attorney at DiCaudo, Pitchford & Yoder today.