I got arrested for shoplifting — will I go to jail?

Possibly, though for a first offense with a low value and no record, jail is generally not the outcome. Diversion, withheld adjudication, community service, restitution, and a theft-awareness class are more typical.

What changes that: prior theft convictions, which escalate penalties; a value at or above the felony threshold; aggregated incidents; or allegations of coordinated activity.

What people underestimate is the record. A theft conviction is treated as a crime of dishonesty, and that classification follows a person into employment, professional licensing, and immigration consequences in ways a comparable non-theft misdemeanor doesn't. For many people that outcome matters far more than any sentence.

There's also a separate civil exposure. Florida law allows a merchant to pursue a civil claim, including a demand letter seeking damages, independently of the criminal case. Those letters are real and they arrive whether or not the charge resolves favorably.

Which is why a resolution avoiding a conviction is worth pursuing even on a small case.