If you’re being encountered with RICO charges, you may want a competent and experienced attorney who would be aggressive in defending your case. Specifically, the penalties for RICO crimes could be up to $25,000 and up to 20 years-life in prison. The defendant will also need to forfeit all money or property obtained through illegal activity.
You may wonder whether anyone has managed to beat RICO charges. Reportedly, there are countless people who successfully beat RICO charges or have the charges dropped against them. If you want evidence that there are people who beat RICO charges successfully, we’ll show the evidence for you in our post below.
Here Are Some People Who Successfully Beat RICO Charges!
As we’ve mentioned, there are countless people who have beaten RICO charges successfully. Since we cannot show all of them, instead we only show you three people who successfully beat RICO charges. Here are they:
1) Winston Connor, II
Winston Connor II, a criminal defense attorney has RICO charges against him dismissed by Associate Judge Clifford Smith in February, 2022. He encountered the charges for his alleged connection with a murder convict, Slint Tate who is serving a life sentence for the murder of Delaware County, Oklahoma reserve deputy Vernie Milford in 1999.
2) Brian Harper
That said, Brian Harper was arrested and charged for allegedly violating the RICO act in a wiretap investigation dubbed, ‘Operation Shut Down the Hustle’.
It is known that he was accused of being a member of a gang called the Four Corner Hustlers street gang who has violated the Illinois Street Gang and Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. However, the state dropped RICO charges, since ‘Harper’s alleged involvement was less than other defendants.’
3) Vagos biker gang
Federal RICO charges were dropped against members of the Vagos Biker gang charged of Racketeering and murder of the leader of a rival gang in a Casino shootout in April 2020.
Okay, those are some people who successfully beat a RICO charge.
Some People Who Have Faced RICO Cases
There are some high profile individuals who have faced RICO charges, since the RICO Act was applied in 1970. Here are five famous people who have faced RICO cases:
1) Young Thug
An American rapper, Young Thug was arrested by law enforcement in May 2022, citing his alleged involvement in gang activities. Now, he is facing RICO charges.
2) R. Kelly RICO Case
A musician, R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years on June 29th, 2022, in prison on federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges.
3) John ‘Dapper Don’ Gotti
By 1992, John Gotti, a member of Gambino Crime Family was punished on racketeering and murder charges. Without the possibility of parole, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
4) Sonny Barger
Sonny Barger, his wife and some members of the Motorcycle club were indicted on RICO charges in June 1979, citing illegal weapons and drugs. It is known that he was a founding member of the Oakland, California chapter ‘Hells Angels Motorcycle Club’. After a mistrial, he, his wife Sharon and another were acquitted. Well, nine members of the club were convicted.
5) Michael Milken
A famous US businessman, financier and philanthropist, Michael Robert Milken was indicted on RICO charges in 1989 for his involvement in the development of the market for high-yield bonds.
Finally, Michael Milken was afraid of getting a life sentence if it made it to trial, so he pleaded guilty to six counts of securities and tax violations and gained 2 years prison sentence in a plea bargain. He then received a presidential pardon by president Donald Trump on February 18th, 2020.
Well, those are some people who have faced RICO charges.
Is There a Way to Beat Rico Charges?
To submit RICO charges on an accused person, the crime and circumstances should fit the technical definition of what constitutes RICO. If you happen to face RICO charges, your criminal defense attorney will evaluate the specific nature of your case and devise a defense strategy.
Here are some RICO defenses considered valid under the law include:
1) Non-membership of a criminal enterprise
You will successfully pass RICO charges if you can prove that you are not a member, agent or assign of the criminal enterprise in question. If your activities are not linked to a criminal enterprise, it means that RICO will not apply even if you are culpable for the crime.
2) Innocence
If you trust that you are wrongly accused of the crimes which led to the RICO charges, proving your innocence beyond reasonable will get the charge dismissed. Sometimes, the prosecutors realize that they actually have the wrong guy and move to dismiss the charges.
It’s important to note, even if you can get RICO charges dropped or dismissed, you can still encounter other charges for the certain criminal offenses that you’re accused of.
RICO Charges and Penalties
It is known that RICO is a federal felony charge that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. However, someone can face life imprisonment if any of the predicate crimes could be punishable by life imprisonment, such as murder.
Here are other penalties for racketeering:
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- $250,000 in fines or twice the illegal profits gained from racketeering,
- Restitution,
- Asset seizure and forfeiture.
To note, civil suits RICO can arise from RICO charges and the damages would end up paying triple the actual damages that are caused by the racketeering endeavor.
The statute of limitation for RICO civil claims is four years. Of course, it was adopted by the US Supreme court following the case of Agency Holding Corp. v Malley-Duff & Associates, Inc., 483 U.S. 143 (1987). This four-year time limit begins from the date the loss is discovered.
Is RICO a Federal Charge?
The RICO Act is a federal law and of course the charges are federal. Over 30 individuals US states have created their own statutes which can bring State RICO charges upon a suspect. One of the examples of a state with RICO law is the Illinois Street Gang and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act that was signed into law in June 2012.
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