People with addiction and doing things they know are wrong can always a way to justify their behavior. But how do you justify your penchant for stealing luxury automobiles.

The way Carroll Joubert, Jr. saw it, time was on his side. He thought writing hot checks to buy five luxury cars from CarMax was legal because the United States went off the gold standard in 1933. This according to chron.com.

The 47-year-old Joubert is being charged with the thefts of five high-end vehicles totaling $297,000.   He accomplished his theft by forging five checks on the Federal Reserve Bank of Georgia to buy a 2011 Cadillac Escalade, a 2009 Lexus, a 2010 Chevrolet Corvette, a 2008 Land Rover and a 2011 BMW.

In addition to a theft class, perhaps Mr. Joubert needs psychological counseling. He claims to believe he can just write checks off the Federal Reserve because all Americans have the right to do that.

The United States left the Gold Standard on June 5, 1933. The United States had been on a gold standard since 1879, except for an embargo on gold exports during World War I, but bank failures during the Great Depression of the 1930s frightened the public into hoarding gold, making the policy untenable.

Joubert used his personal computer to forge the Federal Reserve checks to look like official government documents. The Federal Reserve does not issue certified funds.

Another scheme to steal that keeps dragging America down. Hopefully, an anti-theft class and some psychological counseling will get Joubert back on track.

The military can be a place troubled teens go to find discipline and get their lives back on the straight and narrow. For others their lives of indiscretion and misbehavior continue despite military discipline. This soldier decided to drink alcohol and act stupidly and it may cost him his future.

A teenage soldier and his 21-year-old buddy went on a drunken shoplifting spree. The soldier has lost his job in the military and his pal is going to jail.

The soldier is William Jones who was caught stealing food and alcohol from three different locations last month. The thefts occurred in England according to the Ludlow Advertiser.

At the first store they stole goods valued at £22.50 ($35 US) – a 10-pack of lager, two bottles of lager, a DVD and a sandwich.

After consuming the sub and the beer they needed more supplies and two hours later robbed another One-Stop shop where they took 14 cans of beer worth £14 and 12 cans of alcohol worth £12.

Ten minutes later the 18-year-old former serviceman got the munchies and stole a £3 baguette.

Jones had been serving as a gunner with the Royal Artillery but was discharged from the army.

Jones also has had a problem with substance abuse, including an addiction to mephedrone (known as meow meow) and the army had a zero tolerance policy on drugs.

Jones had been a prominent member of his regiment’s boxing team and appeared to be headed for a nice career in the military. Drugs, alcohol and shoplifting have altered the course of his life. Hopefully he will get a good stop theft class and an alcohol class and get back on the right side of the law. At 18 he still has plenty of time to make something positive of his life.

Have you ever heard of a shoplifting gang? As a counselor for both in-class and online stop theft classes I try to follow these things. While I have heard of flash mob thefts, I have never heard of a gang of shoplifters.

I have heard of a gang that was involved in auto theft, sometimes referred to a theft ring, but shoplifting in a gang?

The shoplifting gang is from England, according the the Daily Record. One of the leaders was arrested after getting drunk on a flight back to the United Kingdom from Spain.

Roberta Burke is a member of Scotland’s most prolific shoplifting gang – dubbed the shopping molls – who fled to Spain after a £24,000 raid on Harrods in London last month.

Yesterday, the 49-year-old Burke admitted shouting, swearing and making abusive remarks and threats of violence on the flight to Scotland.

According to authorities she was belligerent and her behavior caused both fear and alarm. You would think she might not want to draw attention to herself.

How drunk did she get? She claims to have no recollection of the incident on the plane and she is extremely embarrassed.

The activities of the shoplifting gang – run by Annette Daniel and Jean McGovern – have been well documented over the years. Burke will hopefully be spending some time behind bars. Her behavior is unsociable. She needs a stop theft class and perhaps an alcohol class too.

Is a breast augmentation surgery worth getting a criminal record? That is not the thought that pops into many women’s minds, I bet. Nevertheless it must have occurred to the mother in the following story.

An woman in England, Kelly Fannin boasted of spending thousands of pounds of her benefits on a life of luxury - including £4,500 on breast enlargement surgery. Now the unemployed mother of five has been jailed for persistent shoplifting. This according the the Daily Mail.

Somehow she managed to escape jail three times in five years for a series of previous thefts but has now been imprisoned for 16 weeks.

She admitted a spate of shoplifting which netted her nearly £3,000 of goods.

Fannin seems like a real winner. She has five children from four different fathers. Does she take responsibility for her actions? Hardly. She blamed her children for the latest offence, saying they had damaged their rented home and she was struggling to pay the cost of the repairs and the rent.

Quote of the Year – Brutal Honesty or Extreme Gumption

 “Some people might think I'm a scrounger but I don't think me or my children should miss out on nice things just because I have never worked. I've wanted a boob job since I was a teen but it wasn't until I had the five kids that I could afford it with the extra benefits I get. I really do want to have liposuction, a tummy tuck and Botox and the kids agree Mummy should have the best. All mums should be able to have cosmetic surgery. I don't care that it's at taxpayers' expense.”

In the last five years the 34-year-old had been given two suspended jail terms and a curfew.

She carried out some of the offences with another adult - and others with some of her children in tow. 

The children aged between four and 18 are now being looked after by another member of the wider family.

This is a real winner. She needs more than just a stop theft class. She needs serious counseling and hopefully taken off the dole permanently.

If you get busted for a theft-related experience it is a strong indicator that you may have a problem. If you get caught twice, it is a definite sign there are behavior issues regarding shoplifting. Under this scenario, Peaches Geldof is in need of a shoplifting class.

How a beauty like Peaches Honeyblossom Geldof ever came from the Loins of legendary rocker Bob Geldof and girlfriend Paula Yates is beyond me. The gorgeous 23-year-old from England has had many issues with addiction, most notably for this blog, shoplifting.

The young, British model has had several different theft-related altercations. Her first run-in with law came in 2008 when she was accused of stealing underwear from a department store. She also has been accused of stealing clothes from a photo shoot and stole an $800 dress from a high-end fashion store in the United Kingdom.

There have been strong rumors of Geldof’s enjoyment of shoplifting. Recently engaged and with a new baby, I hope Peaches stays on the right side of the law. I would recommend she take a stop theft class and become a model parent for her child.

Are you a wage thief? Are you a victim of wage theft? If so, do you need a theft class? Does your employer need a theft class? Wage thievery is in virtually epidemic proportions in the United States and around the globe!

Wage thievery is when employees are not paid what they are owed.

Wage theft, or the illegal underpayment of workers, has become so widespread, it affects millions of workers across the country. This according to the Huffington Post. Industries where is exceptionally bad include retail, restaurants, hospitality, day-labor, warehousing, child care, and construction.

Just the Facts

Here is the reality - 64% of low-wage workers experience wage theft each week and another 26% are paid under the legal minimum wage. Throw in the possibility that 76% of workers who are owed overtime go unpaid or underpaid for those hours

On average, low-wage workers lose 15% of their income each year to wage theft - $51 per week, or $2,634 per year

Added up across the nation, this amounts to billions of dollars in earnings stolen from people who can least afford to lose it. In New York State alone, workers' losses are estimated at $3 billion per year, and wage theft costs the state $427 million per year in uncollected revenues.

This certainly has an effect on consumer spending. Don’t you think?

State laws and labor departments help keep employers honest. This is one of the reasons minimum wage laws were implemented.

A recent study showed the 44 out of 50 states would fail one of the major tests to curbing wager theft. New York passed a law in 2010 that is now the strongest in the country. Illinois, California, and Massachusetts have also developed strong and innovative policies to help workers reclaim their wages and convince employers to abandon wage theft. But far too many states have done little to nothing at all.

Wage theft is just like any other form of stealing – it is wrong. States should mandate theft classes for employers found stealing from their employees.

Studies have shown that most people do not steal out of need. They steal on impulse and out of a compulsion to steal.

How, exactly, would one steal a KitchenAid mixer? The hefty kitchen appliance isn't something you can shove in your pocket or easily sneak out the door at Target, yet, according to a new survey, it is among the most shoplifted items in America.

Shoplifting up 94%

The survey from the National Retail Federation suggests shoplifting is at an all-time high: 96 percent of companies say they're victims of theft, which is a 94.5 percent increase from last year. This according to limelife.com.

What do you think is the reason for the recent spike in shoplifting?

Given the current addiction issues with respect to pain relievers it may come as little surprise that they are one of the most frequently shoplifted items. Other items normally found in the medicinal section of the store that frequently are stolen include weight loss pills , diabetic testing strips and pregnancy tests.

Electronics Items Frequently Stolen

Cell phones are another item frequently lifted. Other electronics items that are targets for thieves include LCD monitors, television sets, laptop computers GPS devices and digital cameras.

Other items that also are on the top of the list include high-end vacuum cleaners, designer clothing and purses.

Vices Stolen Too

It should come as little surprise that vices like alcohol and cigarettes also are stolen quite often. So too are energy drinks like Red Bull.

Right out of the movie “Raising Arizona” diapers also make the list of frequently shoplifted items.

Hopefully more shoplifting classes and counseling will help keep people from taking other people’s property!

We all have heard the countless stories of people shoplifting from Wal-Mart stores. We have even heard about a woman who was cooking crystal meth in her purse when she was busted for shoplifting last month.

Have you ever heard of someone dying from shoplifting at Wal-Mart? It has happened more than once.

A couple hundred million people shop at Wal-Mart stores every year. Shoplifting is not a capital offense -- except sometimes at Wal-Mart. When encounters with the retailer's "Asset Protection" staff goes too far -- death can result. This according to the Huffington Post.

In August, 2005, 30-year-old Stacy Driver, of Cleveland, Ohio, a master carpenter and the father of a two-year-old son, died from a heart attack while lying face down in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Houston, Texas.

Driver was pinned down on the burning hot pavement by several Wal-Mart workers who accused him of shoplifting a package of diapers, a pair of sunglasses, a BB gun, and a package of BBs. Four Wal-Mart associates chased Driver, who was shirtless at the time, wrestled him to the ground and struggled with him on the hot pavement for 10 to 30 minutes.

Two years later, Wal-Mart paid Driver's family $750,000 in a settlement of the family's wrongful death lawsuit.

In December, 2009, a 38-year-old suspected shoplifter named Marty Bridges was fleeing a Wal-Mart store when security staff working for Wal-Mart grabbed him, and a fight broke out. By the time the Dunwoody, Georgia police arrived on the scene, Bridges was on the ground and dead.

Bridges was accused of stealing were less than $300 in value, and would have resulted in a misdemeanor charge.

Apparently he was gang-tackled by store employees who had him pinned on the ground to keep him from running. Store officials had contacted the police saying that a man had been seen stuffing his shirt with store items. Yet as he lay dying in the parking lot, no items were found on his person.

Last week, another alleged shoplifter died in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Covina, California. Jose Marcos Picazo, 41, of Azusa, California reportedly left the Wal-Mart store without paying for merchandise and was followed out into the parking lot by Wal-Mart Asset Protection employees. Picazo was accused of stealing some clothes and body wash.

This goes back to one of the 10 Commandments – thou shall not steal! Could a shoplifting class have prevented any of these days? We will never know the answer to that question.

Everyone in this land has an opinion about something. Rex Reed is known for having an expert opinion when it comes to film. He also happens to be a music aficionado. His biggest problem is that he prefers to get his music without paying for it.

The well-known pundit and columnist for the New York Observer was arrested for some unbelievably stupid theft behavior. The incident occurred back in 200 at a Tower Records store in New York City.

Reed tried to get away with his theft by paying for a pair of compact discs while attempting to steal three other albums. What was he trying to steal. The three labels he had placed in his pocket were “California Suite” by Torme, Carmen McRae’s “easy to Love” and “Songs from Pete” by Peggy Lee. I have to admit that I never have heard of any of these titles.

This is yet another indicator that television celebrities should not be role models. I am happy to report that since his embarrassing arrest 12 years ago Reed appears to not reverting to his theft behavior.

When you engage in criminal activity, anything can happen. Sometimes it ends in tragedy. This is one of those times.

An Arizona man has been booked on suspicion of murder after a bizarre chain of events involving the attempted theft of two paddleboats in a private pond south of Lake Pleasant, Arizona. This according to Fox News.

Three men bungled an attempt to steal a paddleboat from a local pond. One man wound up missing and was later located in the water, dead.

The 21-year-old Rueben Diaz, was found underwater.

The other two men, Eduardo Mercado, 20, and Julian Tamayo, 26, were hospitalized after being rescued from the pond and were initially facing either theft or burglary charges.

Something seems wrong with this picture, right? All three had been using meth prior to the incident and police now believe that foul play was involved in Diaz's death.

Apparently, the three men had tied the two paddleboats together, and Mercado became angry when Diaz was paddling his boat in the opposite direction Mercado and Tamayo were paddling theirs. Mercado threw Diaz in the water, prevented him from coming back aboard the boats, then jumped in and held him under the surface repeatedly, until Diaz finally disappeared below the surface.

Mercado has been booked on suspicion of second-degree murder, while Tamayo faces additional charges of hindering prosecution and aggravated assault of a police officer, after an incident at a police station.

Had these boys taken an Arizona theft class as adolescents perhaps they never would have engaged in this juvenile act if theft. Perhaps if they had taken a drug class they wouldn’t have been using meth. Criminal behavior kills!