Chicago conspiracy defense lawyer

Protecting Your Interests in State or Federal Conspiracy Investigations

The best time to get legal advice about actual or potential conspiracy charges is at the very first moment you hear of your involvement in a criminal investigation. No matter how remote you might be from the center of an ongoing drug distribution, fraud or money laundering operation, it would be a mistake to assume that you can’t face serious exposure to punishment under a conspiracy theory.

Call 312-955-4400 for a Free Consultation About Your Defense

Contact a defense attorney at the Law Office of Robert Kerr, LLC, in Chicago to learn about the best ways to deal with state or federal charges of conspiracy in Cook County, one of the collar counties, or the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Even before you call a lawyer, you should understand that you should make no statement of any kind to an investigating officer without first getting legal advice.

Conspiracy charges are a way to either convict or obtain the cooperation of a large number of defendants under complex or long-term drug trafficking or fraud investigations. While the strongest evidence might point toward the guilt of only a few key suspects, the investigation will usually turn up dozens of names through wiretaps, video surveillance, controlled drug buys or the circulation of marked money. Any one of those names could face punishment on a conspiracy charge, or at a minimum, heavy pressure to cooperate with the investigation as an unindicted co-conspirator.

All it takes to support a conspiracy conviction is proof of a common intent to commit an illegal act between two or more people, and of a specific overt act — whether or not illegal — to advance the unlawful objective. For example, if the conspiracy defendant is aware that two friends plan to rob a bank, letting them use a car to get to and from the bank could be the overt act that could result in a conviction of conspiracy to commit robbery.

Attacking Conspiracy Charges Through Careful Review of the Evidence

The main goal of your defense lawyer in a conspiracy case is to isolate the overt acts or common understandings alleged by the government as evidence of guilt, then show that this evidence cannot support a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt. That’s why it’s so important to maintain silence even during “informal” conversations with investigating officers. Even lawful actions can be used against you in a conspiracy case if they can fit into a pattern indicating a shared motivation to commit a crime.

Find out more about the ways a skilled defense attorney can protect you from state or federal conspiracy charges in Greater Chicago. For a free consultation, contact the Law Office of Robert Kerr, LLC.