go legit

go legit

To begin behaving honestly after previous involvement with nefarious or illegal activities. Yes, he got into a lot of trouble when he was a teenager, but he's gone legit now, I swear.
See also: go, legit
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

go legit

begin to behave honestly after a period of illegal activity. informal
Legit was originally a late 19th-century theatrical abbreviation meaning ‘a legitimate actor’, that is, one who acts in ‘legitimate theatre’ (conventional or serious drama).
See also: go, legit
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • legit
  • vice
  • vice ring
  • back alley
  • come by (something) honestly
  • come by honestly
  • ill-gotten gains
  • a man who stands for nothing will fall for anything
  • gnomes of Zurich
  • up to no good
References in periodicals archive
Players research and develop strains, manage the temperature and humidity, experiment with soil quality, appeal to different types of customers, investigate the competition, figure out how to keep the police at bay, supervise employees, and even ultimately go legit with fully permitted medical marijuana operations.
He wants his family out of the Mafia, but the mob kingpin (Eli Wallach) isn't eager to let one of the most powerful and wealthy families go legit.
In Season 2, Deran attempted to go legit by buying his own bar but soon realized financing his business would require him to step back into a life of crime.
I'm coordinating with my former office, the Department of Trade and Industry, to craft means for the vendors to go legit.
Nevertheless, some in the underground economy, like Mexico City marijuana dealer Jose, see legalisation as a way to go legit.
But there are three very different cops, each battling their own demons (natch), a murdered high-profile businessman, and a career criminal who's trying to go legit. That should get you started.
The quartet features three cops and one criminal, the last played by Vince Vaughn, whose character, Frank Semyon, is desperately pursuing a land deal that will allow him to go legit. Still, a complication, in the form of a dead body, threatens to derail those plans, while creating an awkward alliance among a boozing detective (Colin Farrell, somewhat playing against type), a brooding highway-patrol motorcycle cop (Taylor Kitsch) and a sheriff's detective (Rachel McAdams), each of whom sports a constipated look indicative of a painful past, a personal secret, a bad attitude or some combination of all three.
But, to paraphrase Al Pacino's mafia don trying to go legit in The Godfather Part Three: "Just when I think I'm out they pull me back in."
Sgt Higgins said although it was "commendable that Mr Craig wanted to go legit" he called the art space a "red herring".
However his thinking is not that that action should be punitive, but rather designed to encourage and assist "cover-up" businesses to go legit. To this end, he recommends that there should be a simplification of the measures relating to the establishment and management of foreign investment.
"They were being presented with a kind of devil's bargain, as either they could either go legit and probably out of business, or start to lie about who their spams were from and what they wanted to get round filtering systems and wait for the law to catch up with them" Then in 2007 the infamous Storm botnet hit, which at its height may have controlled up to 50mn Windows computers and earned its creator, according to research, an estimated $9,500 a day from purchases of the goods it was flogging.
The Los Angeles proposal under consideration when Garvin wrote his article was virtually identical to the restrictions in place today: To go legit, a vendor must procure nearly $1,000 worth of permits, plus a cart that costs between $1,000 and $2,000--figures that are out of reach for entrepreneurs like Marta.
In 2006 Hyett stopped claiming benefits and, in an interview at the time, Mr Hyett told staff "they had tried to go legit."
Now the 2003 GayVN winner for Newcomer of the Year is trying to go legit, adding theater-work and independent film roles to his resume Still, I have had a couple episodes where it's like, 'I recognize you from somewhere!' "says Wolfe.
"They are very enterprising but it's getting them to go legit that's the problem.