Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: “If I have an outstanding warrant, what should I do?”
RICO stands for the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a federal law created in the 1970s to fight organized crime. Law enforcement agencies devote extensive resources to prosecute and convict individuals who take part in organized crime schemes.
Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: “What should parents tell their children to do when interacting with police officers?”
The Supreme Court this week issued a ruling that many experts believe cleared the way for criminal action against the international soccer organization FIFA. In its ruling, the Supreme Court said that the government is able, in certain cases, to bring charges involving international criminality in the U.S. judicial system using the RICO Act. The Court wrote that RICO is one of the rare and powerful statutes that allow for this kind of extraterritorial jurisdiction. To learn more about the RICO Act and how it is used to prosecute crimes, keep reading.
Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: “Should I clean up my social media profile after being charged?”
Lawmakers frequently look for new ways to appear tough on crime. In Tennessee, one popular approach was to target gang members with enhanced criminal sentencing guidelines. Though the law was a popular one among prosecutors, a state court recently struck it down as being unconstitutional, forcing legislators and prosecutors to go back to the drawing board to find legally acceptable ways of cracking down on gang crime.
Criminal gangs have become a nation-wide problem. What used to be an issue that was confined to the streets of Los Angeles, New York and other very large cities is now something that law enforcement agencies across the nation have to tackle. Charlotte, North Carolina has a thriving gang culture and now after a two-year investigation, one of those gangs has taken a major hit.
According to a recent report by WCNC.com, the United Blood Nation (also simply known as the Bloods) have fallen victim to a federal, state, and local investigation and 27 of its members are now either currently incarcerated or are facing charges. 
They have been federally charged with being a part of a racketeering enterprise involving drugs, murder, and robbery. Specifically the indictment charges that the members of the gang conducted a drug trafficking operation and the proceeds from that were used to finance other criminal activities. The U.S. Attorney indicated that the Bloods committed a string of armed robberies and home invasions and then attempted to conceal their crimes by intimidating the witnesses to the crimes.
Some part of the investigation must have involved a listening device or an informant. The indictment alleges that the Bloods met regularly to discuss important business. During those meetings they discussed who they thought was cooperating with the police and what was to be done about those individuals. There were also planning meetings for the next major criminal act.
Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Blog