How much jail time for RICO

| by Max Soni

Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group – we’re a second-generation law firm managed by Todd Spodek, with over 40 years of combined experience defending clients in federal cases. We’ve handled many high-profile matters, like representing Anna Delvey in the case that became a Netflix series, arguing juror misconduct in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial, and defending clients in cases others called unwinnable. If you’re reading this, you’re probably facing RICO charges – or someone you care about is – and you need to know what you’re actually looking at.

RICO sentencing terrifies people because the statute allows up to 20 years per count, or life if the predicate offenses involve murder or other capital crimes. That’s what the law says on paper. What actually happens in federal court is more complicated, more nuanced, and depends heavily on factors most defendants don’t understand until it’s too late.

The maximum penalty under 18 U.S.C. § 1963 is 20 years in federal prison per RICO count. Multiple counts run consecutively in many cases, which means you stack them. Two counts, 40 years. Three counts, 60 years. The statute also allows for life imprisonment when the underlying racketeering activity – the predicate offenses – includes crimes punishable by life, like murder, kidnapping, or certain drug trafficking charges. Federal judges sentence people to life for RICO violations regularly. This isn’t theoretical.

But here’s what confuses defendants: the statutory maximum isn’t the sentencing range. Federal judges don’t just pick a number between zero and 20 years. They calculate a guidelines range using the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which creates a precise sentencing calculation based on offense level and criminal history. For RICO cases under § 2E1.1 of the Guidelines Manual, the offense level gets determined by the most serious predicate offense – not a standard base level like other crimes. If the predicate offenses include drug trafficking with significant quantities, fraud involving millions of dollars, or violent crimes, the offense level climbs fast. A defendant with offense level 30 and Criminal History Category III faces 121-151 months under the guidelines. That’s 10-12.5 years before any adjustments.

Leadership role matters more than almost anything else in RICO cases. Section 3B1.1 of the guidelines adds 2-4 levels if you organized, led, managed, or supervised the criminal enterprise. A 4-level increase can add years – sometimes decades – to the guideline range. Courts determine leadership by looking at your relationship to other participants, how important your actions were to the enterprise’s success, and whether you understood the full scope of what was happening. You don’t need a formal title. If you recruited people, coordinated activities, or made decisions that affected the enterprise, prosecutors will argue you’re a leader.

Recent sentences from 2024 and 2025 show the massive range of outcomes in RICO cases. Christopher Green was sentenced in July 2025 to 35.5 years for RICO conspiracy and violent crime in aid of racketeering in a District of Columbia case. James LaForte, the “enforcer” in the Par Funding RICO scheme, received 11.5 years in March 2025 after pleading guilty to racketeering conspiracy, securities fraud, and extortion. Brandon Branigan got 18 years in July 2024 for his role in a Quad Cities violent RICO conspiracy. In the Waco RICO case, defendants received life sentences – two life terms running concurrently plus 20 years on additional counts.

Then you have Young Thug’s case, which ended in October 2024 with a non-negotiated plea. Jeffery Williams was sentenced to 40 years structured as 5 years in prison (commuted to time served after spending over two years in custody), 15 years of probation, with a 20-year backloaded sentence if he violates probation. He walked out of jail the day he was sentenced. That outcome shocked people who don’t understand how federal sentencing works. His co-defendants got different deals – Quamarvious Nichols received 20 years with 7 to serve, Marquavius Huey got 25 years with 9 to serve.

DOJ statistics from fiscal years 2018-2022 show that the median prison sentence for RICO convictions was 87 months – that’s just over 7 years. The median ranged from 57 months in FY 2018 to 120 months in FY 2022, showing significant year-to-year variation. These numbers reflect actual sentences after plea agreements, cooperation deals, guideline calculations, and judicial departures. They’re not the statutory maximum. They’re what actually happens.

Cooperation changes everything. Substantial assistance under § 5K1.1 allows judges to sentence below the guideline range if you provide valuable cooperation to prosecutors. In RICO cases, cooperation usually means testifying against co-defendants, explaining the enterprise’s structure, or providing evidence about predicate offenses. Some defendants get 50% reductions. Some get more. Federal prosecutors control this process because they file the motion requesting the departure.

Violence drives sentences up dramatically. If the predicate offenses include murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, or assault with serious bodily injury, the offense level increases substantially. Firearms enhancements add more time. A RICO conspiracy involving years of drug trafficking is treated differently than a RICO conspiracy involving murder-for-hire. Asset forfeiture is also mandatory – courts seize homes, businesses, bank accounts, everything connected to the enterprise. You face criminal fines up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain from the offense. These financial penalties come on top of prison time.

Acceptance of responsibility under § 3E1.1 provides a 2-3 level reduction if you plead guilty, which can cut years off your sentence. But you can’t get it if you go to trial and lose. This is why over 95% of federal defendants plead guilty – the sentencing differential is enormous. Plea agreements resolve most RICO cases, with prosecutors offering sentence recommendations or agreements not to pursue certain enhancements. Some plea agreements include cooperation provisions requiring testimony. Others are straight pleas that judges aren’t bound to follow.

At Spodek Law Group, we’ve seen how RICO cases develop from investigation through sentencing. These cases take years to build – prosecutors use wiretaps, cooperating witnesses, financial records, and surveillance to construct conspiracy charges connecting dozens of defendants to hundreds of predicate acts. The presentence investigation report prepared after conviction is critical because it calculates the guideline range and recommends a sentence to the judge. Fighting for accuracy in that report matters as much as the trial itself.

If you’re facing RICO charges, you need lawyers who understand federal sentencing and have experience negotiating with federal prosecutors. Todd Spodek and our team have represented clients in complex federal conspiracies and understand how these cases are built, how they’re defended, and how sentences are calculated and negotiated. We know what prosecutors value in cooperation agreements and what arguments actually work at sentencing. RICO cases aren’t the kind of matters you handle with inexperienced counsel – the stakes are too high, the law too complex, the consequences too severe.

The answer to “how much jail time for RICO” is: it depends, but probably more than you think. The statutory maximum is 20 years or life. The median sentence is about 7 years. The actual sentence in your case will be somewhere in that range, determined by guidelines calculations, enhancement factors, cooperation, and judicial discretion. Don’t rely on best-case scenarios or hope prosecutors will be lenient. RICO is the government’s favorite tool for prosecuting organized criminal activity, and they use it because it works. They win these cases, and judges sentence defendants to decades in prison regularly.