RICO ACT (Racketeering)

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations ("RICO") Act 18 U.S.C. Sections 1961-68 was passed by the United States Congress to give law enforcement broad power to fight organized crime, whether the organized criminals were the traditional mobsters or the new age members of a drug rings or today’s typical street gangs. The RICO Act has over time, however, resulted in many unforeseen applications. Despite the aggressiveness that law enforcement utilizes the RICO Act, an individual who does not fit the "organized criminal" stereotype may have many defenses such as whether the alleged criminal actions are within the scope of the RICO Act, whether the alleged criminal actions truly form a pattern, or whether the criminal actions were carried out through a criminal enterprise. If a RICO prosecution has been initiated against you or a loved one or you think law enforcement officials are contemplating an action, we may be able to help you successfully defend and in some cases we may even be able to prevent the initiation of any prosecution. It is imperative that you contact the Law Offices of Roderick C. White us as soon as possible, we have the knowledge and experience to help. RICO Act violations are prosecuted under 18 U.S.C. Section 1962(c) which makes it a crime for anyone employed by or associated with an enterprise engaged in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce to conduct or to participate, directly or indirectly, in the conduct of the affairs of that enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity.

Racketeering activity is any act or threat involving murder, kidnapping, gambling, arson, robbery, bribery, extortion, dealing in obscene matter, or dealing in narcotic or other dangerous drugs, which is chargeable under State law and punishable by imprisonment for more than one year; any act which is indictable under the following [sections] of 18, U.S.C.: 201 (bribery), 224 (sports bribery), 471, 472, and 473 (counterfeiting), 659 (theft from interstate shipment) if act indictable under 659 is felonious, 664 (embezzlement from pension/welfare funds), 891-894 (extortionate credit transactions), 1029 (fraud with access devices), 1084 (transmission of gambling info), 1341 (mail fraud), 1343 (wire fraud), 1344 (financial institution fraud), 1461-1465 (obscene matter), 1503 (obstruction of justice), 1510 (obstruction of criminal investigations), 1511 (obstruction of State or local law enforcement), 1512 (tampering with a witness, victim, or informant), 1513 (retaliating against a witness, victim, or informant), 1951 (interference w/commerce, robbery, or extortion), 1952 (racketeering), 1953 (transport of wagering paraphernalia), 1954 (unlawful welfare payments), 1955 (illegal gambling), 1956 (laundering of monetary instruments), 1957 (monetary transactions derived from specified unlawful activity), 1958 (use of interstate commerce facilities in murder-for-hire), 2251-2252 (sexual exploitation of children), 2312 and 2313 (interstate transport of stolen motor vehicles), 2314 and 2315 (interstate transport of stolen property), 2321 (traffic in motor vehicles or parts), 2341-2346 (traffic in contraband cigarettes), 2421-24 (white slave traffic); any act indictable under 29 U.S.C. 186 (payments/loans to labor orgs) or 501(c) (embezzlement from union funds); fraud connected with a case under title 11, fraud in sale of securities, or felonious dealing in narcotic/other dangerous drugs; or any act indictable under Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act.

The individual charged in violation of the RICO Act must be a person employed by or associated with an enterprise. An enterprise includes any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity, and any union or group of individuals associated in fact, although not a legal entity. The term enterprise includes both legal and illegal associations. The enterprise must be separate and apart from the pattern of racketeering activity in which the individual allegedly engaged. The enterprise must be proven to have been an ongoing organization, formal or informal, that functioned as a continuing unit. The individual must have either directly or indirectly, conducted or participated in the conduct of the affairs of the enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity. The individual must have participated in the operation or management of the enterprise, but need not be a member of upper management. To prove a pattern of racketeering activity, the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that (1) the acts of racketeering activity are related to each other, and (2) they amount to or pose a threat of continued criminal activity. To prove the racketeering acts are related to one another, the government must prove that the criminal conduct charged embraces criminal acts that have the same or similar purposes, results, participants, victims, or methods of commission, or otherwise are interrelated by distinguishing characteristics and are not isolated events. At a minimum, a pattern of racketeering activity requires at least two acts of racketeering activity within ten years of each other; provided, however, that the government proves the relationship and continuity of those acts.

The enterprise must also have been engaged in interstate or foreign commerce or its activities must have affected interstate or foreign commerce. The enterprise is engaged in commerce if he directly engaged in the production, distribution, or acquisition of goods or services in interstate commerce. The individual’s conduct "affected" interstate or foreign commerce if the conduct had a demonstrated connection or link with such commerce. It is not necessary for the government to prove that the individual knew or intended his conduct to affect commerce. It is only necessary that the natural consequences of the individual's conduct affected commerce in some way. Only a minimal effect on commerce is necessary. Commerce includes travel, trade, transportation and communication. Interstate commerce means commerce or travel between one state, territory or possession of the United States and another state, territory or possession of the United States, including the District of Columbia. Foreign commerce means commerce or travel between any part of the United States, including its territorial waters, and any other country, including its territorial waters.

A sole proprietorship may also be an "enterprise" under RICO so long as it is not a "one man show. Furthermore, the RICO provision applies when a corporate employee unlawfully conducts the affairs of the corporation of which he is the sole owner-whether he conducts those affairs within the scope, or beyond the scope, of corporate authority.