By Associated Press
Attalla, AL – Two convicted shoplifters were sentenced to wear a sign saying, "I am a thief, I stole from Wal-Mart," and stand for four hours in front of the Attalla store.
A shoplifter usually is banned from a store, fined, ordered to pay restitution and given probation. But Attalla City Judge Kenneth Robertson Jr. required the "I am a thief" sign for the misdemeanor offense.
Lisa King Fithian of Attalla stood in front of the Wal-Mart Supercenter Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. wearing the sign on her front and back to avoid a 60-day jail sentence. Another convicted shoplifter was at the store from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Fithian maintained her innocence, telling The Gadsden Times that she was taking a seven-dollar item to the service desk in a shopping cart because it would not scan.
Wal-Mart manager Neil Hawkins said the store would not have prosecuted if they had not been sure she was shoplifting and the judge convicted her.
Hawkins said the store did not ask the judge to sentence shoplifters to wear the sign.
However, he said he supports the public display if it's a deterrent to shoplifting.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)