Call our firm to speak to one of our attorneys if you have been charged or are being investigated for racketeering or another violation of the Georgia RICO Act. Our firm is dedicated to putting our experience handling racketeering charges and other white collar crimes to work for you in your case. is still running his successful small business because he trusted our firm to get his RICO charges dismissed. In the end, the prosecutors dismissed the charges before the judge could rule on our motions because the prosecutors knew we would win. was indicted, we filed several motions challenging law enforcement’s search of his business and requesting that the judge dismiss the indictment because the prosecutors had waited too long to charge S.F. knew he needed an experienced lawyer in RICO cases, and he reached out to retain our firm because of our experience defending against Georgia racketeering charges. and each of the other defendants were all constituent parts of a racketeering enterprise, like spokes on a wheel, with the landfill employee at the center of it all. In other words, the prosecutors in this case were alleging that, by committing theft against Fulton County Waste Management, Inc. The “predicate acts” included theft by deception and theft of services. was still indicted for racketeering along with his employee, the landfill employee, and several employees and owners of other waste management businesses. didn’t know about his employee’s actions or about this landfill employee’s other deals, S.F. As it turned out, this landfill employee had similar arrangements with other dumping businesses and had allegedly been accepting bribes from waste management businesses all over the metro Atlanta area.Įven though S.F. Without S.F.’s knowledge, one of his employees had allegedly been bribing a Fulton County landfill employee to alter the weight of S.F.’s dump trucks in order to pay a lower dumping fee. owns a waste management service in the metro Atlanta area, and, like every other waste management business, his company dumped its waste at a landfill operated by Fulton County Waste Management, Inc. S.F.’s case is a great example of how the Georgia RICO Act has been stretched too broadly by prosecutors and of how an attorney with experience in RICO cases can make a significant difference in your case if you are facing racketeering charges in Georgia. All a prosecutor needs to do is accuse an individual of committing two crimes within four years of each other and allege that the acts were part of a “pattern of racketeering activity.” While many people associate the word “racketeering” with the mafia and other criminal enterprises and organizations, prosecutors today have significantly broadened the scope of the law to prosecute common crimes under the Georgia RICO Act and charge several individuals as part of one racketeering case even if their offenses are unrelated. Under the Georgia RICO Act, Section 16-14-4 of the Georgia Code, it is illegal to conduct or participate in an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity.
RICO charges are brought against individuals or organizations who engage in certain criminal activities listed in the statute. The law is aimed at combating organized crime in the United States.
charged him and several others with racketeering under the Georgia RICO Act. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, more commonly referred to as RICO, is a federal law that was enacted in 1970.
The RICO charges were dismissed after our firm filed several pretrial motions, including a motion to dismiss. Additional arrests are expected as the investigation continues.ġ09 Smith Drive, Macon, Ga.Last week, Fulton County prosecutors dismissed criminal racketeering charges against our client, S.F., a successful small business owner in the Atlanta area. The GBI was assisted in the investigation and arrests by the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office, the Jones County Sheriff’s Office, the Georgia Department of Transportation, and the NICB (National Insurance Crime Bureau). On Wednesday, July 14, 2010, five (5) of the seven (7) were arrested and transported to the Baldwin County Jail. The indictments stemmed from a 3-year investigation conducted by the GBI’s Regional Office in Milledgeville regarding staged vehicle accidents and insurance fraud. On Monday, July 12, 2010, a Baldwin County grand jury indicted seven (7) individuals for violating the State’s RICO Act (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations). Obtaining Criminal History Record Information Georgia Criminal History Record Restrictions GAPS - Georgia Applicant Processing Service