Liability for felony theft in Massachusetts
<p>I recently discovered that my recent ex-girlfriend had been stealing money from me. She had stolen my credit card information and used it to purchase Visa Gift Cards on Amazon. This occurred during the last couple months of our relationship, totaling to around $700. After we split, she also used the card for an Uber ride (not the main concern here). She is also refusing to return a $300 AC which I never had to chance to pick up after we split. I have written confirmation from Amazon that her account was used to make the Visa Gift Card purchases and the receipt for the AC. At no time did I give her permission to use this card or any of my cards without consulting me first.</p>
<p>My understanding is these together constitutes a felony. But the situation is complicated. We have a child together, so my concern is that if I bring this up in small claims court, it will have a large negative impact on my son's life (because anything bad that happens to her will trickle-down to my son). She has also been stealing clothes I purchased for my son. She did this by refusing to return clothes my son was wearing when I dropped him off to her for her visitation time. Since I caught on to this, I have made sure I return him in the clothes she had him in when she returned him to me.</p>
<p>So, my question is, what possible consequences could she incur? Is there a common ruling for cases such as this? What's the worst that can happen?</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>

<p>The primary question is whether you want to think of this as a criminal matter or a civil one. If the act is actually a crime, the state prosecutor will have her arrested and charged, and she may be imprisoned or fined. Being a felony relates to how serious a crime it is. This outcome punishes her and leaves you with nothing but satisfaction that a criminal has been punished.</p>
<p>In order for the state to prosecute the offense, they have to be convinced that there is an actual crime, an offense against society, not a civil matter (the state does not pursue the interests of the individual). A criminal charge is not inconceivable, for example if she broke into your vault and stole your credit card number, then she literally stole your credit card info, but if you had been letting her use the card and then she used it in an unauthorized manner, that isn't stealing credit card information. The &quot;without consulting me first&quot; part indicates that you have a civil disagreement, not a crime.</p>
<p>The alternative is to sue her for what you have lost. Given the amounts, this can be handled in small claims court. You will (presumably) get something that you want, if you can make a good enough argument that she used the card in a way that you hadn't authorized.</p>

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