South Florida Criminal Attorneys Blog

The definition of extortion is obtaining money or property by threat or intimidation even though it may not be represented by a clear or imminent physical danger to the victim. It is basically acquiring money or property by threat of physical violence or embarrassment to the victim, a friend or family member of the victim; a threat of damage to the victim’s property or threatening to damage a person’s reputation through various methods.

In the case of blackmail, the alleged guilty party would have something that the victim wouldn’t want made public and the target makes payments to stop the intimidator from doing so.

So what happens if you commit a crime due to being extorted? The answer is that it depends. There is a defense of duress, which can lessen your involvement. Also, if you cooperated with authorities and testified for the prosecutor, there is a chance you will be charged with lesser crimes in the first place. Finally, a jury is going to be sympathetic to someone who was clearly blackmailed. That being said, the anticipated victim must believe that the threat is reasonably real and the threat that the intimidation against them must be true. Some of the elements to prove are:

Most do not go about their life thinking that they may be under watch and investigation by law enforcement. However, it can happen. If you or someone you know is involved in white collar criminal activity, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) may be collecting evidence on you.

Investigations like this are never launched without much thought. By the time you even remotely suspect that you may be the subject of an investigation, law enforcement may have already obtained a great deal of evidence and has already looked into other potential suspects. So what are some signs that you are being looked into?

A coworker tells you that they have been interviewed and that your name was brought up.

There is a saying that goes, “You don’t always get it right the first time.” That can be said for trials. Being charged as guilty does not mean it is your last opportunity to see justice served. A defendant can file an appeal and if that is not successful, post-conviction relief is an option. You may get a reduced sentence, a new trial or even a vacated sentence and your freedom.

The federal court will only accept the petition if all other avenues of post-conviction relief have been exhausted at the state level. Under federal law, there is a deadline on when you can file. The statute of limitations is a year from the day you received the court judgement.

An attorney may raise issues such as an illegal search, jury bias and tampering or even not being fully advised of the rights you were waiving when you entered a guilty plea.The issue could have occurred at any phase of the criminal proceeding against you, including during the investigation, arrest, pre-trial, plea hearing, trial or sentencing.