Despite what you might think, some people shoplift because they have an actual mental illness. The majority of shoplifting is not done out of need, but because of mental health issues.

These people cannot help themselves. Often this lands them in jail for a very long period of time. That is the case of Mark Lucas. As reported in cjonline.com.

Lucas being a “serial shoplifter” added another 20 months to a series of prison terms that will keep him behind bars until he is in his 50s.

Because he cannot seem to control his theft behavior the 43-year-old received an additional 11 years and four months for his latest felony convictions tied to stealing from the Wal-Mart store.

In his most recent case, Lucas was convicted of shoplifting a DVD player and a wireless router. Lucas made guilty and no contest pleas to resolve 19 earlier theft cases.

Unfortunately this guy is not some single loser. He has a wife and many children.

So why would a person continue to jeopardize his lifer and compromise his family? Was it because he wanted them to have nice things? Of course not.

Over and over, Lucas has admitted the thefts were done to get money for his crack cocaine addiction. Drugs are an evil that society needs to work toward eradicating.