Sbozarth23,
Thanks for stepping up and sharing this story about your son. I think you handled it really really well. It reminds me of some trouble I got into in fifth grade that was of a similar nature.

When my mother found out what I had done, she marched me in front of the offended parties and made me apologize.
I was also grounded for one month and was not allowed to talk to my best friend (who was my cohort) during that entire time. I was also given extra chores, but not to earn money.
I really learned how wrong I had been in my actions and how severe it was. Something that I really didn't know before I got in trouble. I never got into as much trouble as I did that day because I really learned my lesson.
It sounds like you had a similar impact on J. :)

My son (6) came home from school almost a month ago and while he was putting his laundry up I was going through his backpack. That was when I discovered something like 75cents, that I did not give him. I asked him where he got the money and I could tell by the look on his face that it was not going to be good.

He told me that he took the money from a boy at school. I could not believe what I was hearing, he said he wanted money to buy things and he did not know how else to get it. First I lectured him about stealing (this was not our first talk on it) and ways he could make money. I did not tell J what I was going to do about this, he must have figured a talking too was all he would get. The next day to his surprise, I took him to his classroom after the bell rang and in front of his class he had to return the money to the boy and apologize for his actions. J also served one day of lunch detention, which was school policy based on his age and the nature of his offense.

He has not had an incident of bullying or stealing since and he is doing extra chores to make money.