According to Fox News Ernesha Atmore, a career shoplifter, is facing the end of her days of stealing designer merchandise as she heads to prison.
Having made a career out of retail theft, Atmore has a history of stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of designer goods, leading to multiple stints in prison.
However, the stricter laws in Florida have finally caught up with her.
Hillsborough State Attorney Suzy Lopez says a theft caught on video a couple of years ago, may have sealed her fate.
“She committed one of the most brazen thefts I’ve heard of. She went into a Sunglass Hut at International Plaza and had a soft-sided cooler, and she just scooped up about $20,000 in designer sunglasses. When the employee said, ‘What are you doing,’ she said, ‘I have a taser.’ And, as you know, a taser is a weapon,” explained Lopez.
Atmore was busted days later, and police found a lot of stolen goods in her car.
Because she is a repeat offender, she’s now facing stiffer penalties and decades in prison.
Prosecutors offered her a three-year deal, but she rejected it.
A jury convicted her and she was recently sentenced to 30 years in prison.
“That’s because the state of Florida has taken a stance on retail theft,” said Lopez.
In the last couple of years, the legislature has toughened retail theft laws, upgrading charges from misdemeanors to felonies, tacking on more years to sentences.
But before Atmore was sent away, she had two more theft cases to settle, including a jewelry store theft, where she tried to steal an $8,000 ring from the store.
The judge added six more months to her sentence. Atmore is now going away for 30 years and six months. She won’t be free again until she’s nearly 60 years old.
