JL, a 56 year old truck driver, was caught shoplifitng (by tampering with the price tags) at Walmart in North Reading on January 19, 2026. He was brought to the Asset Protection Office and the North Reading Police responded to the store. The Asset Protection Officer at Walmart informed the police that they had surveilled JL on TEN prior occassions shoplifting to the amount of $520.00. Because he had his young daughter with him, the police did not arrest him, but told him he would be summoned to Court. On February 4, 2026, JL went to Woburn District Court – without a lawyer (big mistake) – for a Clerk-Magistrate hearing and the Clerk-Magistrate issued a criminal complaint against JL for Shoplifting By Price Tag Tampering. JL contacted and retained Attorney Robert Lewin from Andover.
The biggest problem with being caught shoplifting is the risk of conviction which brands you as a THIEF. And no one wants to hire a THIEF. JL made a big mistake by going to the Clerk-Magistrate hearing without a lawyer. Many of these shoplifitng cases – even for multiple offenders such as JL – can be settled at a Clerk-Magistrate Hearing without a criminal complaint being issued.
In any event, the Criminal Complaint against JL was set down for arraignment in Woburn District Court on March 18, 2026. Attorney Lewin reached out to the District Attorney’s Office before March 18, 2026 to discuss the case and to see if the case could be resolved favorably. On March 18, 2026, JL and Attorney Lewin appeared in Woburn District Court. Attorney Lewin spoke again to the Assistant DA and the Assistant DA said he would agree to recommend that the case be dismissed if JL agreed to pay $250 in court costs. The case was called in open court and Attorney Lewin and the Assistant DA told the Judge that the two sides had reached an agreement to dismiss the case upon the payment by JL of $250 in court costs. JL paid the $250.00. The Judge ordered the case dismissed.
Results like this are common for Attorney Robert Lewin. He was an Assistant District Attorney himself, and for the last 51 years has limited his practice to the Defense of Criminal Cases. There are very few lawyers in Massachusetts that bring the years of experience and breath of knowledge that Attorney Lewin brings to every case and every client.