A racketeering conviction against a former Jackson County Sheriff’s Deputy has been overturned by a three-judge panel of the First District Court of Appeal.
The court upheld Zachary Wester’s other convictions, but says a resentencing hearing is on order.
In July of 2021 Wester received a 12-and-a-half year sentence after a week-long trial. He faced nearly 70 charges in his trial based on his history of planting drugs on people during traffic stops.
Wester’s charges also included violations of what are called RICO laws–Florida’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, which is aimed at organized crime. However, as part of the majority opinion, Appellate Judge M. Kemmerly Thomas said applying the RICO law to criminals acting alone, “would create unintended [consequences].”
While the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office had employed Wester, an internal affairs investigation found there were no patterns of corruption within the sheriff’s office and the court recognized that the disgraced deputy had acted alone.
Wester is currently being held in a Colorado prison.
