In the General Hospital episode that aired on April 2, Jason (Steve Burton) finally admitted why he’s been away working with John 'Jagger' Cates (Adam Harrington) and the FBI for the past two years. He shared with Anna (Finola Hughes) that he’s been putting his life at risk for the bureau in trying to bring Pikeman down to protect Carly (Laura Wright). Jagger claimed the FBI has enough evidence to level RICO charges against Carly, ensuring she would be locked behind bars for a long time.
Right away, we were stunned by the leverage Jagger’s been holding over Jason and questioned if this alleged evidence existed. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, in order for a person to be convicted of RICO charges the following must prove true beyond a reasonable doubt:
"(1) that an enterprise existed; (2) that the enterprise affected interstate commerce; (3) that the defendant was associated with or employed by the enterprise; (4) that the defendant engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity; and (5) that the defendant conducted or participated in the conduct of the enterprise through that pattern of racketeering activity through the commission of at least two acts of racketeering activity."
So General Hospital fans will recall that when Sonny (Maurice Benard) was believed to be dead but was actually in Nixon Falls with Nina (Cynthia Watros), Carly assumed control over Sonny’s criminal enterprise.
She ran the organization with Jason by her side, seeing it as the only way to ensure her family remained safe from Sonny’s enemies. While her tenure in charge was brief, it’s possible that she did enough dirty deeds to garner the attention of federal law enforcement. But did Jagger and the FBI really collect enough evidence to convict her of any crimes? We’re doubtful.
For starters, if the government had such proof, it seems they would have used it as leverage when they were going after Carly for insider trading. During that whole ordeal and before Drew (Cameron Mathison) took the fall for Carly, the government was willing to overlook Carly’s insider trading charges if she would turn witness against Sonny. The feds have been after Sonny for quite some time and saw him as the bigger fish. So why wouldn’t the federal agents have just threatened RICO charges in addition to the ones she was already facing to twist her arm in making
her turn witness against Sonny?
Additionally, we find it hard to believe that the federal government has been after Sonny for a long time for his crimes and has yet to put him away for life, but Carly takes over his business for a few months and they magically have enough evidence to put her away for two decades. Unless Carly was just incredibly sloppy, which we doubt with Jason and Brick (Stephen A. Smith) aiding her back then, she likely didn't leave a lot of loose ends for the FBI to grab.
This all has us thinking that Jagger possibly manufactured some evidence against Carly and presented it to Jason to manipulate him into doing his bidding. Jason wouldn’t likely question the evidence as he wouldn’t take the chance with Carly’s life.
So where does that leave the future of Jason and Carly? If we had to guess, Jason will continue to work for Jagger. Despite Jason swearing Anna to secrecy about his motivation for working for the FBI, we imagine Carly will somehow find out about the sacrifice Jason is making for her and do what she needs to in order to free him from Jagger’s control. That could mean she turns herself in and hopes Diane (Carolyn Hennesy) helps her come out victorious in a court case. Or it could mean she works with Spinelli (Bradford Anderson) to plan an attack on Jagger and prove he’s not a squeaky-clean agent.
We have to wait to see if our theory about this "evidence" against Carly is true, or if the FBI really has a solid case against her. Plus, we have to see how Carly will react to the news Jason put his life on hold to protect her.
New episodes of General Hospital air on weekdays on ABC. If you miss an episode, you can catch up on Hulu.
