Please help: My friend's boyfriend stole a cellphone and used 700$ on it, could he got to jail? Hes 16.?

Question

I have this friend Amber, and her boyfriend Mike is 16 almost 17. They live 2 hours away and Mike has to hitchhike just to see her sometimes, they like eachother a lot. But mike's friend stole a cell phone and gave it to mike, and he spend 700 dollars on it talking to people. his "friend" told the cell phone's owner, and she tracked down mike, and said he doesn't give her 700 dollars by sunday then shes going to call the cops on him. i feel so bad for him, what is the most time he could get? what do you think will happend, if he doesn't get the money? thanks guys and were in canada.

Answer 1

I feel bad for the person he stole from.

That could be considered grand theft. He probably wont go to jail, maybe probation and he'll have to pay the owner back

Answer 2

if mike knew it was a stolen phone, possibly yes, he could be charged with a crime. But he probably won't go to jail for it. If the girl never got the phone back, she should just call it in stolen and then she shouldn't be held responsible for the usage that mike did. I know that's wrong, the phone company will end up footing the bill for mikes calls, but if he can't afford the $700 right now, it will be more later when she sues for the bill, and disconnection fees and court fees. maybe he can work a deal with her to get her a new phone (he pays for it!)

Answer 3

Well thats nice that the cell phone owner is giving him a chance, she should have called the cops right away. If he doesnt pay and she gets the police involved it is highly unlikely he will go to jail over a first time offence and at such a young age. He will be made to pay her the money and probably a fine and a slap on the wrist. My brother was caught drink driving without a license when he was 16 and he had to go to court and pay $150 fine, the cops werent even nasty to him they were nice, let him off very lightly and I tell you what he will NEVER take that chance again, he knows he was lucky and is not going to risk it.

Answer 4

Mike needs to face the consequences. He stole $700 worth of services from the true owner of the phone. It's just like he took the cash from the person. He's a thief just as much as the his friend who stole the phone. You eventually have to pay for being a jerk.

Answer 5

Well technology is so advanced these days that even if he gets rid of the phone they will still be able to trace the calls to him. He will probably have to pay her back for the charges and then maybe do some community service. If its his first offense they may let him off pretty easy. I am not familiar with Canadian law though. Good Luck to him. If he knew the phone was stolen then he needs to pay for what he did.

Answer 6

Mike knowingly did something illegal. He needs to either pay for the minutes or face the legal consequences. As a friend, instead of feeling sorry for him you should hope that he learns from this mistake so that he can stay out of trouble in the future.

Answer 7

damn right he could as the phone theft is a charge and the calls is another theft in it's own right. For a local opinion why not an anonymous question to the local police.

Answer 8

Did Mike know it was stolen? Or did the friend give it to him without telling him?

Answer 9

more than likely if he cant pay the phone bill charges he will have to spend time in juvenile center. and could be charged with theft of the cell phone.

Answer 10

well he could get in deep trouble the best thing would be to tell someone right now before he spends over $750
Do you really want to be friends with someone who did that?
Just tell he screw the friendship if you are going to do this.