If San Diego police or prosecutors suspect that a crime was committed as part of a gang activity, they may add a gang enhancement to the charges. While this is not a charge in itself, it will drastically increase the consequences of any charges you are already facing. For example, a misdemeanor theft charge will become a felony and a felony crime will automatically become a strike and four years can be added on to your sentence. In cases involving very serious crimes, ten years may be added to your sentence. If you have been accused of any type of gang affiliation crime, it is critical you contact a top San Diego criminal lawyer as soon as possible.
If you are granted probation for a gang affiliation crime, the probation will be subject to gang conditions. This means you cannot associate with other gang members, wear gang affiliated clothing (which may include gear from certain sports teams or even particular colors), and you may even be restricted from visiting certain neighborhoods. In addition to the extra penalties you may face for these crimes, you will also be added to a gang registry and when you are released, police officers will see this registry any time they look you up in their database -even for a traffic citation. As you can see, gang crimes carry very serious penalties, which is why you should always fight these accusations with the help of an experienced San Diego gang crimes attorney.
You do not even need to be part of a gang to be convicted of a gang crime. If you committed a crime in order to help a gang or to join a gang, you may recieve a gang crime enhancement to your charges. A San Diego criminal attorney may be able to fight the accusations that you acted on behalf of a gang while also helping you fight the charges themselves.
When you have been accused of a gang crime, do not tell anything to the police or prosecutors until you have a San Diego criminal lawyer present. Remember that anything you say can and will be used against you.
As soon as you have been arrested for a gang crime in San Diego, call (760) 643-4050 OR (858) 486-3024 to schedule a free initial consultation with San Diego gang crimes lawyer Peter M. Liss.
Creative Commons Image by Mr Samuel Body
