The way I see it, did I break the laws if you can not prove it IC? The irony is that I have never got branded Criminal for stealing in town because there was no proof of it. I did get marked Wanted one time for following imperial laws though in an isolated incident :D
I was not a role model imperial shadow and don't claim to be, and thus my imperial ranks reflected it which I was well aware of. Getting robbed by thieves suck, I knew that so I did aim to steal only what I need to fight as a thug. My thief's inventory consists of merely one mace, 3 daggers, a sack, and a teleportation potion. Was my first thief and sorry if I did experimented it on you :D