Accused Kohl’s thieves want lighter punishment since items were on sale, attorneys say

Two men accused of stealing shoes, clothes and KitchenAid appliances from a Kohl’s in Colorado tried to avoid a heavier legal punishment since some items were on sale, officials say.

The penalty for stealing items under $2,000 is a misdemeanor in the state.

If stolen goods cost between $2,000 and $5,000, this could lead to a class 6 felony conviction.

That’s what happened to the 50-year-old and 37-year-old accused Kohl’s thieves — despite their defense attorneys’ arguments in support of a lesser charge, according to the state’s 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

According to prosecutors, the total cost of Kohl’s items the men stole from the store in Parker, about 25 miles southeast of Denver, was $2,094.98.

Their defense attorneys disagreed and said some of the items were on sale.

“Sale price or promotional price is evidence of value that jurors must consider when determining whether the prosecution met their burden consistent with the laws and statutes of Colorado,” Thomas A. Ramunda Jr., one of the men’s defense attorneys, told McClatchy News in a statement on Dec. 13.

Ramunda told The New York Times both men pleaded not guilty to felony theft — as the items they stole cost $1,856.19 because a few products, including a KitchenAid mixer, were on sale on Sept. 10, 2022.

“This is not some defense shenanigan. … I stand firm that the value of the items was under the felony threshold in this case,” he told the newspaper.

Ramunda’s client and the other man were convicted on felony theft charges and sentenced this month, the district attorney’s office announced in a Dec. 12 news release.

Both men were caught on store surveillance footage leaving the Kohl’s with stolen products, according to the release.

“Just because an item is ‘on sale’ doesn’t mean it’s free to steal, and these defendants now get to think about this lesson in jail and prison,” District Attorney John Kellner said in the release.

In response to Kellner’s statement, Ramunda told McClatchy News that the men “never suggested that the items were ‘free to steal.’”

“These gentlemen readily admitted that they stole the items, and both suffered the consequences of their actions,” Ramunda said.

His client was sentenced to 90 days in jail “with credit for time served as a condition of 18 months of probation,” the district attorney’s office said.

The other man was sentenced to one year and three months in prison, according to the district attorney’s office. He’s in the custody of the state’s Department of Corrections in connection with an unrelated conviction, the release said.

“In many theft cases, evidence of value is at issue, and here it was the only disputed element,” Ramunda told McClatchy News.

“The prosecution must meet the highest burden of proof for each and every element of theft, including value, before an individual can be convicted and punished for a specific degree of theft,” he added.

McClatchy News contacted Kohl’s for comment on Dec. 14 and didn’t receive an immediate response.

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