Mike Leake has pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of “unauthorized use of property” following his shoplifting arrest last week, agreeing to 30 hours of community service after being charged with stealing $60 worth of shirts from Macy’s.
In addition to the community service attached to what is now a misdemeanor offense, Leake will enter a diversion program, which would eventually allow his record to be wiped clean as a first-rime offender.
Leake had remained silent about the issue since his arrest, but today he told reporters his side of the story:
Assuming for a moment that’s true and this whole thing is due to Leake actually paying for shirts and then screwing up his attempt to exchange them for different shirts. Doesn’t it seem odd that he’d be so quick to accept 30 hours of community service and a misdemeanor guilty plea that involves entering into a program? For what he describes as basically being a doofus who doesn’t know how to exchange something at a store?
After all, as Leake explains it that seems like much more misunderstanding than law-breaking and you’d think it never would have gotten this far in the first place. There seems to be a significant disconnect here between the series of events as described by Leake and the reaction of everyone else involved, from Macy’s and police to prosecutors and now Leake himself based on the guilty plea and acceptance of punishment.
From the moment this story broke last week nearly every detail confused me and that remains true following the plea agreement.