What Is Retail Fraud Second Degree in Michigan?

Retail fraud in the second degree in Michigan is a misdemeanor shoplifting offense that applies when someone steals merchandise, swaps or alters price tags, or seeks a refund for goods they never bought, with the property valued between $200 and $999. It carries up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000 or three times the value of the property, whichever is greater. A person with a prior theft conviction can be charged in the second degree even when the amount is lower.

What the Statute Covers

MCL 750.356d defines three distinct acts that qualify as second-degree retail fraud when the value is at least $200 but less than $1,000. Each must happen in a store, or in its immediate vicinity, while the store is open to the public.

Taking merchandise. Concealing or walking out with store property without paying. The classic shoplifting scenario, including hiding an item in a bag, pocket, or stroller.
Price manipulation. Altering, switching, removing, or hiding a price tag to pay less than the listed price. Moving an item into cheaper packaging falls here too.
Fraudulent refund or exchange. Trying to get cash back or store credit for merchandise you never purchased, including returning items you just took off the shelf.

The refund category trips people up. The moment a person walks to customer service with a store item and asks for a refund they aren’t entitled to, the offense is complete. The statute reaches attempts, so the store doesn’t actually have to hand over any money.¹

How a Prior Conviction Changes the Charge

A person who would otherwise face third-degree retail fraud (property under $200) can be charged in the second degree if they have a single prior conviction for retail fraud in any degree, larceny, or a related theft offense. The prior does not have to be recent, and it does not have to be from Michigan. A conviction under a local ordinance that substantially corresponds to one of the covered statutes counts.¹

The same step up works at the next tier. Under MCL 750.356c, conduct that would normally be second-degree retail fraud becomes first-degree retail fraud, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison, when the person has a qualifying prior conviction. A second shoplifting case involving a few hundred dollars of merchandise can carry state prison exposure if an older theft conviction is on the record.²

Criminal Penalties

Second-degree retail fraud is a misdemeanor. The maximum penalties are:

Up to one year in the county jail.
A fine of up to $2,000, or three times the value of the property, whichever is greater.
Both jail and a fine, at the judge’s discretion.

The “three times value” formula can push the fine past $2,000 in higher-dollar cases. An $800 theft can carry a $2,400 fine. The court can also order restitution to the merchant for the actual loss, which is a separate obligation on top of any fine.¹

How the Three Tiers Compare

Michigan splits retail fraud into three levels based on the value of the property involved.

Third degree (under $200). Misdemeanor; up to 93 days in jail and a fine of up to $500 or three times value.¹
Second degree ($200 to $999). Misdemeanor; up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000 or three times value.¹
First degree ($1,000 or more). Felony; up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 or three times value.²

Prosecutors can also combine multiple incidents that were part of a scheme or course of conduct within a 12-month period. Two separate $600 thefts from the same retailer can be aggregated into a single $1,200 charge, which lands in felony territory.²

The Store’s Civil Demand

The criminal case is only one track. Under MCL 600.2953, a merchant who is the victim of retail fraud can also pursue the person civilly for:

The full retail price of any unrecovered property, or of recovered property that can’t be resold.
Civil damages equal to ten times the retail price, with a floor of $50 and a ceiling of $200.

Most people meet this through a civil demand letter sent in the mail after the incident. It typically gives 30 days to pay and warns of a lawsuit if payment doesn’t arrive. If the merchant sues and wins, the court can add attorney fees and costs.³

Paying the demand does not end the criminal case. The statute requires the demand letter itself to say that “these civil proceedings do not prevent criminal prosecution.” The two cases run independently.³

Avoiding Jail or a Conviction

Not every second-degree retail fraud case ends with jail. Judges have several options, especially for people with no record.

Under MCL 771.1, a court can place a defendant on probation rather than impose incarceration if the judge concludes the person is unlikely to reoffend and the public interest doesn’t require jail. The same statute allows sentencing to be delayed for up to one year, giving the defendant time to show good behavior, complete community service, or pay restitution before a final sentence is set.⁴

For defendants between 18 and 25 at the time of the offense, the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act is the better outcome. Under HYTA, the court can accept a guilty plea without entering a conviction. If the person completes the terms of supervision, the case is dismissed. Because no conviction is ever entered on the record, HYTA avoids most of the collateral consequences that follow a permanent criminal record.⁵

Expungement Is Not Automatic

Michigan’s Clean Slate law created automatic set-asides for certain convictions after a waiting period. For misdemeanors punishable by 93 days or more, the clock is seven years from sentencing with no new convictions during that time.⁶

There is a catch. Automatic set-aside does not apply to convictions for “a crime of dishonesty.” Retail fraud, which involves theft or deception by definition, likely falls under that exclusion. A person with a second-degree retail fraud conviction may still be able to petition the court for a set-aside through the application-based process, but shouldn’t count on the conviction clearing itself.⁶

Immigration Consequences for Non-Citizens

Second-degree retail fraud is particularly dangerous for anyone who isn’t a U.S. citizen. Federal immigration law treats theft with intent to permanently deprive the owner as a crime involving moral turpitude. A single CIMT conviction committed within five years of admission to the United States, where the maximum possible sentence is one year or more, can make a person deportable. Second-degree retail fraud carries that one-year maximum.

A “petty offense” exception can sometimes prevent a CIMT from triggering inadmissibility, but only when the person has committed just one CIMT in their life, the maximum sentence is no more than one year, and the actual sentence imposed was six months or less. Even where the exception applies, it addresses inadmissibility, not deportability. Anyone on a visa, green card, or other non-citizen status facing a retail fraud charge should treat it as an immigration emergency and work with an attorney who handles both criminal defense and immigration law.

Common Defenses

Intent is the heart of every retail fraud case. The prosecution has to prove the defendant acted with the purpose of stealing or defrauding, not just that unpaid merchandise ended up in their possession.

Honest mistake is the most common defense. A parent managing children and a cart who walks past the register with an item on the bottom rack hasn’t necessarily intended to steal it. When the facts are consistent with distraction rather than concealment, the intent element gets much harder to prove. For price-tag cases, evidence that the tags were already wrong when the item was picked up can undermine the charge.

Challenging the valuation matters because the degree turns on whether the property is worth $200 or more. Pushing the value below that line drops the offense to third degree, cutting the maximum jail time from one year to 93 days and the fine from $2,000 to $500. The statute ties the amount to the price at which the property was “offered for sale,” so a clearance item should be valued at its clearance price, not the original sticker. Defense attorneys often look at whether the store used the actual shelf price or an inflated loss-prevention figure.¹

Where the charge was elevated based on a prior conviction, the prior itself is worth attacking. If it was improperly entered, came from a jurisdiction whose ordinance doesn’t substantially correspond to Michigan’s statute, or has already been set aside, the enhancement collapses and the charge drops back to third degree.

1
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 750.356d
2
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 750.356c
3
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 600.2953
4
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 771.1
5
Michigan Courts. Deferral
6
State of Michigan. Clean Slate