NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) -- 49-year-old Johnny Ratcliff was sentenced on Jan. 7 to serve 21 months in jail after shoplifting for multiple ABC stores in 2023. Over the course of several months, Ratcliff stole liquor from three Norfolk ABC store locations, one on Tidewater, E. Little Creek Road and International Boulevard. Ratcliff stored the bottles in a backpack before leaving. Ratcliff sometimes stole from the same store within short periods of time. His shoplifting was caught on video by employees and he was identified in January 2024 with numerous counts of misdemeanor shoplifting. In Virginia, prosecutors don't receive state funding to assign prosecutors to misdemeanor cases. However, Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi assigned a prosecutor to this case of serial shoplifting, due to a rise of ABC store thefts. On Jan. 7, Ratcliff entered an agreement to plead guilty to three counts of misdemeanor shoplifting to serve 21 months in jail with another 15 months suspended. His sentencing also came with the conditions that he be of uniform good behavior and be banned from Virginia ABC stores for one year following his release. Judge Tasha D. Scott accepted his plea agreement, found him guilty, and sentenced him per the agreement. “Mr. Ratcliff was one of a handful of people who were responsible for a significant share of the ABC store larcenies in Norfolk over the last two years,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “That is why, even though the State has never funded prosecutors to staff misdemeanor cases, I allocated resources I did not have to staff these cases. By being smart on crime, we have been able to make a difference in ABC larcenies without repeating the mistakes of the 1990s. More broadly, however, it is totally unjust that our state government provides zero dollars to local prosecutors anywhere to be involved in misdemeanors. That is why I have worked with a bipartisan group of prosecutors to advocate for the Virginia Access to Justice Act in the General Assembly this session so that every victim and every accused can have the fairest trial possible.” Continue to check WAVY.com for updates.