Judge Dismisses “To Catch a Predator Case”

Date:
Oct 24, 2013

Attorney Anthony Rickman, a partner at the Law Firm of Taracks Gomez & Rickman successfully argued a motion to dismiss before a Hillsborough County Florida Judge on Thursday, October 24 that resulted in the dismissal of his clients two Felony charges. The Defendant, a 26-year-old Tampa man, was arrested and charged with “Traveling to Meet a Minor to Commit an Unlawful Sexual Act” and “Using the Computer to Solicit a Minor” after being the subject of a “To Catch a Predator” like a sting operation. If convicted of these charges defendant faced up to twenty (20) years in Prison and would be classified as a Sexual Offender. In his Motion to Dismiss that was granted by the Court, Mr. Rickman argued that his client was entrapped by law enforcement. In asserting the entrapment defense Mr. Rickman was able to convince the Judge that the Law Enforcement’s conduct in their investigation was egregious, outrageous and in violation of his client’s Constitutional rights. Anthony Rickman further argued that his client was induced by law enforcement to commit an offense that he would not have committed without the coercive tactics of the police and that the defendant was not predisposed to commit this offense. The Judge agreed and dismissed all of the charges against the defendant.