“The Perry County district attorney’s office dismissed a felony charge that Pennsylvania State Police had filed against a homeless man after he paid $2 for a Mountain Dew drink that cost $2.29. Joseph Sobolewski maintained all along that his arrest for retail theft after visiting the Exxon at 3298 Susquehanna Trail in Duncannon was a misunderstanding. He said he saw a sign for 20-ounce Mountain Dew bottles: 2 for $3. He grabbed a bottle, slapped $2 on the counter and walked out. What he didn’t know was a single bottle was $2.29, not $1.50. So he had shorted the store 29 cents plus tax, or 43 cents total. The store called police, who tracked him down.”

“Pennsylvania State police Trooper Johnathan Sullivan charged him with a felony, and a Magisterial District Judge Jackie Leister locked him up for seven days on $50,000 cash-only bond. He was facing up to seven years behind bars because of Pennsylvania’s ‘three-strikes’ law that mandates a third theft charge must be a felony regardless of the amount. The original story last month of Sobolewski’s plight went viral, with dozens of other publications across the country and into Canada writing about it. Then, earlier this month, prosecutors quietly dropped the theft charge and reduced another charge, driving while suspended, from a misdemeanor to a summary offense, which is the same level as a traffic ticket” – PennLive.