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Can you go to prison for RICO
|Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group. We’re a second-generation law firm managed by Todd Spodek – who has many, many, years of experience as a criminal defense attorney. Our team brings over 40 years of combined experience handling federal cases that others won’t touch. We’ve represented clients in cases that made national headlines, like the Anna Delvey Netflix series, the Ghislaine Maxwell juror misconduct case, and complex federal prosecutions across the country.
If you’re reading this, you’re probably facing RICO charges or know someone who is. This article explains what prison time actually looks like for RICO convictions – the statutory maximums, what sentences judges actually impose in 2025, and why these cases are different from other federal charges.
Yes, You Can Go to Prison for RICO – And the Sentences Are Brutal
RICO convictions carry up to 20 years in federal prison per count under 18 U.S.C. § 1963. That’s the standard maximum. If the RICO charges include predicate crimes punishable by life imprisonment – like murder or certain drug trafficking offenses – you’re looking at life in federal prison.
Federal prosecutors charge RICO differently than state crimes. They’ll stack counts. One RICO conspiracy, multiple substantive RICO violations, dozens of predicate acts charged separately. Each count is another 20 years of exposure, they run these consecutive if they want to bury you.
According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s 2025 RICO Primer, the median prison term for RICO convictions from 2018 to 2022 was 87 months. That’s over seven years. But that median hides the real story – sentences ranged from 57 months in 2018 to 120 months in 2022. The trend is upward, judges are getting harsher with these cases.
What 2025 RICO Sentences Actually Look Like
The statute says one thing. Real courtrooms in 2025 tell a different story.
Demonta Daniels got two consecutive life sentences in June 2025 for a Waco RICO case involving the Hobbs Act. Two life sentences. That’s not theoretical – that’s a 26-year-old man who will die in federal prison. Christian Eppinger in the YSL RICO trial received 75 years with 40 to serve after an Alford plea in June 2025. He’s accused of shooting an Atlanta police officer six times, that’s the kind of predicate act that makes judges throw the book at you.
Not every RICO case ends with life. Clifford Kyzer got just over 11 years in February 2025 as the final defendant in South Carolina’s Insane Gangster Disciples case. Ludovic Laroche received 30 years for an investment scam RICO case in April 2025. A defendant in Washington D.C. got 35.5 years for RICO conspiracy and VICAR kidnapping in July 2025.
The range is enormous because sentencing depends on what you actually did. A RICO case built on fraud looks different from one built on murder. But don’t mistake that for leniency – 11 years is still more than a decade of your life gone.
Multiple Counts Mean Your Sentence Multiplies Fast
RICO cases almost never involve a single count. Federal prosecutors charge RICO conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d), substantive RICO violations under § 1962(a)-(c), and then they add every predicate crime as a separate count.
You might face one RICO conspiracy count, two substantive RICO counts, and fifteen predicate acts charged as separate offenses – wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, whatever. Each substantive RICO count carries that 20-year maximum. Judges can run these sentences consecutively, that means stacked, one after another. Three RICO counts at 20 years each running consecutive is 60 years before you even get to the predicates.
The Federal Sentencing Guidelines set a base offense level of 19 for RICO violations. From there, the guidelines add enhancements for leadership role, amount of loss, use of firearms, number of victims. A base level 19 with a criminal history category I gets you 30-37 months. Add enhancements and a prior record, you’re looking at years or decades depending on how bad the facts are.
Forfeiture Will Destroy You Financially
Prison is just part of the punishment. RICO convictions come with mandatory criminal forfeiture under 18 U.S.C. § 1963(a). The court must order you to forfeit all property derived from racketeering activity and any interest in the enterprise you controlled through racketeering.
This isn’t discretionary. The statute says “shall order” forfeiture. That means the government takes your house if you bought it with proceeds from the enterprise. Your cars, your bank accounts, your business interests, anything connected to the racketeering activity. The court can also fine you up to twice the gross profits from the offense – you made $5 million, the fine can be $10 million.
What Actually Determines Your RICO Sentence
The predicate offenses drive everything – a RICO case built on murder predicates will bury you compared to one built on fraud. The role you played matters – organizers and leaders get four-level enhancements under the guidelines, while minimal participants might get a reduction. Criminal history is huge, a Category I defendant with no prior record gets treated very differently from a Category VI defendant with an extensive criminal past. Cooperation makes an enormous difference, substantial assistance under 5K1.1 can cut decades off your sentence if you give the government what they want.
Why RICO Cases Are Different From Other Federal Charges
Most federal crimes are isolated acts. Wire fraud, drug trafficking, weapons possession – these are serious, but they’re discrete offenses. RICO is different because it punishes participation in an ongoing criminal enterprise. The government doesn’t just prove you committed fraud, they prove you committed fraud as part of a pattern of racketeering activity connected to an enterprise.
RICO cases involve massive amounts of evidence. Wiretaps, surveillance, cooperating witnesses, financial records going back years. Trials last months. The YSL RICO trial in Georgia became the longest criminal trial in state history, Young Thug was in jail for over two years before he finally took a plea deal with 15 years probation and time served rather than risk decades more at trial. That’s not justice, that’s just math.
What You Should Do If You’re Facing RICO Charges
Don’t talk to federal agents without a lawyer present. Anything you say will be used to build the government’s case against you or flip you as a cooperating witness. RICO investigations involve multiple defendants – the government wants to flip lower-level participants to build cases against leaders.
Get a lawyer who has actually defended RICO cases, not someone who handles state crimes and thinks federal court is the same. Federal RICO prosecutions involve different rules of evidence, different sentencing procedures, different prosecutors with more resources and experience. You need counsel who understands how the Sentencing Guidelines apply to RICO, how to challenge the government’s theory of the enterprise, how to negotiate with OCGS (Organized Crime and Gang Section) attorneys who have to approve every RICO charge.
At Spodek Law Group – we handle federal cases across the country. We’ve represented clients in high-stakes federal prosecutions where the government had wiretaps, cooperating witnesses, and years of investigation behind them. Unlike other law firms who are more focused on their relationship with prosecutors and judges, our only goal is getting you the best outcome. If you’re facing RICO charges, the stakes are too high to go with a lawyer who treats this like any other case. These charges can take decades of your life and everything you own. We understand that, and we take this very seriously.