The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a

United States federal law The law of the United States comprises many levels of Codification (law), codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the supreme law is the nation's Constitution of the United States, Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the ...

that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil

cause of action A cause of action or right of action, in law, is a set of facts sufficient to justify suing to obtain money or property, or to justify the enforcement of a legal right against another party. The term also refers to the legal theory upon which a ...

for acts performed as part of an ongoing

criminal organization In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

. RICO was enacted by Title IX of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 (), and is codified at as . This article primarily covers the federal criminal statute, but since 1972, 33

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

s and territories have adopted state RICO laws, which although similar, cover additional state crimes and may differ from the federal law and each other in several respects.

History

G. Robert Blakey, an adviser to the United States Senate Government Operations Committee, drafted the law under the close supervision of Senator John L. McClellan, the Chairman of the Criminal Law and Procedures Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee. It was signed into law by US President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

. Prosecutors in the 1970s used it to prosecute the

Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...

as well as others who were actively engaged in organized crime. In later years, prosecutors have applied the law more broadly.

Summary

Under RICO, a person who has committed "at least two acts of

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...

activity" drawn from a list of 35 crimes (27 federal crimes and eight state crimes) within a 10-year period can be charged with racketeering if such acts are related in one of four specified ways to an "enterprise." Those found guilty of racketeering can be fined up to $25,000 and sentenced to 20 years in prison per racketeering count. In addition, the racketeer must forfeit all ill-gotten gains and interest in any business gained through a pattern of "racketeering activity." A US Attorney who indicts someone under RICO has the option of seeking a pre-trial

restraining order A restraining order or protective order is an order used by a court to protect a person in a situation often involving alleged domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, assault, harassment, stalking, or sexual assault. Restraining and perso ...

or an injunction to temporarily seize a defendant's assets and prevent the transfer of potentially forfeitable property as well as to require the defendant to put up a performance bond. An injunction or performance bond ensures that there is something to seize in the event of a guilty verdict. This provision prevented the owners of

-related

shell corporation A shell corporation is a company or corporation with no significant assets or operations often formed to obtain financing before beginning business. Shell companies were primarily vehicles for lawfully hiding the identity of their beneficial ...

s from absconding with assets. In many cases, the threat of a RICO indictment can force defendants to plead guilty to lesser charges, in part because the seizure of assets would make it difficult to pay a defense attorney. Despite its harsh provisions, a RICO-related charge is considered easy to prove in court because it focuses on patterns of behavior as opposed to criminal acts.

Enterprise defined

There must be one of four specified relationships between the defendant(s) and the enterprise. Either the defendant(s): * invested the proceeds of the pattern of racketeering activity into the enterprise (18 U.S.C. § 1962(a)); or * acquired or maintained an interest in, or control of, the enterprise through the pattern of racketeering activity (subsection (b)); or * conducted or participated in the affairs of the enterprise "through" the pattern of racketeering activity (subsection (c)); or * conspired to do one of the above (subsection (d)). The US Supreme Court noted that a commentator had used the terms "prize", "instrument", "victim", or "perpetrator" for these four relationships.

Civil provisions

U.S.C. § 1964 provides for civil remedies in cases of violations outlined in U.S.C. § 1962. The following are established: * District Courts may issue court orders appropriate to the restriction or dissolution of entities involved in section 1962 violations. * The Attorney General may start civil proceedings which allow for further court action pending final decision (i.e., injunctions, restraining orders, and acceptance of satisfactory performance bonds). * Allows for the commencement of a

civil action A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. T ...

by a private party to recover damages sustained as a result of the commission of a RICO predicate offense. * Any individual or organization found guilty during a RICO criminal proceeding may not deny allegations brought forth in criminal proceedings in any civil cases. The civil provisions of the RICO Act provide versatility in how the government may work to dissolve criminal entities. Due to the lessened burden of proof in civil court (i.e., preponderance of evidence), the United States may circumvent restrictions set forth in criminal proceedings. Discovery tools, permitted use of illegally obtained evidence, and adverse inferences broaden government intervention in combatting U.S.C. § 1962 violations.

Civil suits

RICO also permits a private individual "damaged in his business or property" by a "racketeer" to file a

civil suit A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. T ...

. The plaintiff must prove the existence of an "enterprise." The defendant(s) are not the enterprise; in other words, the defendant(s) and the enterprise are not one and the same. A civil RICO action can be filed in state or federal court. Both the criminal and the civil components allow the recovery of treble damages (triple the amount of actual/compensatory damages). If the United States government is the plaintiff in civil court, treble damages may be replaced with a request for

equitable remedies Equitable remedies are judicial remedies developed by courts of equity from about the time of Henry VIII to provide more flexible responses to changing social conditions than was possible in precedent-based common law. Equitable remedies were gr ...

and preliminary injunctive reliefs.

Organized crime

Although its primary intent was to deal with

organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

, Blakey said that Congress never intended it merely to apply to the Mob. He once told ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', "We don't want one set of rules for people whose collars are blue or whose names end in vowels, and another set for those whose collars are white and have

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

diplomas." In the years following its passage, RICO had been criticized for its extensive use against entities other than organized crime. One critic pointed towards the amount of civil suits that were brought against businesses, labor unions, and other private parties, which made up for 90% of all civil RICO cases, according to the American Bar Association. On December 1, 1977, the federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Louisiana indicted thirteen defendants, Robert J. L'Hoste & Company, Inc. for conspiracy and racketeering activity. After the defendants moved to dismiss the indictment for overbreadth and vagueness, the grand jury returned a superseding indictment on February 27, 1978, charging the same offenses and naming eleven defendants, including the appellants. The district court denied a motion to dismiss the superseding indictment, and the first RICO trial commenced on March 13, 1978. The jury convicted the four appellants and another corporation on both the conspiracy and racketeering counts. In May 1979, prosecutor Mark L. Webb, Northern District of California, conducted RICO trial, ''United States v. Sam Bailey Gang''. The successful prosecution used the RICO statute to allege that a gang of postal burglars and a Nevada

fence A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or net (textile), netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its ...

collaborated criminally in an organized crime fashion. The case did not involve a Mafia crime family. Subsequently, the US Attorney's office for the Eastern District of Arkansas used the RICO Act on October 2, 1978, to indict officers of Local 1292 of the Laborers International Union of North America. Special Assistant United States Attorney, Samuel A. Perroni, prosecuted the first labor union official trial that began on June 5, 1979. Perroni's successful prosecution used RICO to convict the defendants of conspiracy, murder for hire, perjury and embezzlement of union property in ''United States v. Allison, et al.'' The US Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York employed the RICO Act on September 18, 1979, in ''United States v. Scotto''. Scotto, who was convicted on charges of racketeering, accepting unlawful labor payments, and income tax evasion, headed the International Longshoremen's Association. During the 1980s and the 1990s, federal prosecutors used the law to bring charges against several Mafia figures. In 1985,

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani ( , ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and Disbarment, disbarred lawyer who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney ...

(who would be indicted under Georgia RICO laws in August 2023) indicted 11

figures in ''United States v. Anthony Salerno, et al'', also known as Mafia Commission Trial. Using the RICO Act, Giuliani charged the heads of New York's so-called "

Five Families The Five Families refer to five American Mafia, Italian American Mafia Crime family, crime families that operate in New York City. In 1931, the five families were Organized crime, organized by Salvatore Maranzano following his victory in the C ...

" with

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

, labor racketeering, and murder for hire. Three Assistant United States Attorneys assisted in the trial: Michael Chertoff, the eventual second

United States Secretary of Homeland Security The United States secretary of homeland security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the federal department tasked with ensuring public safety in the United States. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet of the ...

and co-author of the Patriot Act; John Savarese, later a partner at Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz; and Gil Childers, a later deputy chief of the criminal division for the Southern District of New York and later managing director in the legal department at

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

. ''Time'' magazine called the "Case of Cases" possibly "the most significant assault on the infrastructure of organized crime since the high command of the Chicago Mafia was swept away in 1943" and quoted Giuliani's stated intention: "Our approach is to wipe out the five families." Three heads of the Five Families were sentenced to 100 years in prison on January 13, 1987. The Genovese and

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

leaders, Tony Salerno and Carmine Persico received additional sentences in separate trials, with 70-year and 39-year sentences to run consecutively. The

Gambino crime family The Gambino crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. ...

boss Paul Castellano and his

underboss Underboss () is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian Mafia, Sicilian and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the Crime boss, boss. The un ...

, Thomas Bilotti, were murdered on the streets of

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...

on December 16, 1985.

State laws

As of 2014, 33

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

as well as

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

and the

United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and a territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located ...

had adopted state RICO laws to cover state offenses under a similar scheme.

RICO predicate offenses

Under the law, the meaning of racketeering activity is set out at . As currently amended it includes: *Any violation of state statutes against

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

kidnapping Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...

bribery Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...

, dealing in obscene matter, or dealing in a controlled substance or listed chemical (as defined in the

Controlled Substances Act The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) is the statute establishing federal government of the United States, federal drug policy of the United States, U.S. drug policy under which the manufacture, importation, possession, use, and distribution of ...

); *Any act of

counterfeiting A counterfeit is a fake or unauthorized replica of a genuine product, such as money, documents, designer items, or other valuable goods. Counterfeiting generally involves creating an imitation of a genuine item that closely resembles the original ...

theft Theft (, cognate to ) is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shor ...

embezzlement Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ''besillier'' ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin) is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking ...

fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

, dealing in obscene matter,

obstruction of justice In United States jurisdictions, obstruction of justice refers to a number of offenses that involve unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investiga ...

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

, commission of murder-for-hire, and many other offenses covered under the Federal criminal code ( Title 18); *

Embezzlement Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ''besillier'' ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin) is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking ...

of union funds; *

Bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

fraud or

securities fraud Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a deceptive practice in the stock or commodities markets that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information.Drug trafficking; long-term and elaborate drug networks can also be prosecuted using the

Continuing Criminal Enterprise Statute The Continuing Criminal Enterprise Statute (commonly referred to as CCE Statute or Kingpin Statute) is a United States federal law that targets large-scale drug traffickers who are responsible for long-term and elaborate drug conspiracies. Unlike ...

; *Criminal

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of Copyright#Scope, works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the c ...

; *

Money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

and related offenses; *Bringing in, aiding or assisting aliens in illegally entering the country (if the action was for financial gain); *Acts of

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

. Pattern of racketeering activity requires at least two acts of racketeering activity, one of which occurred after the effective date of this chapter and the last of which occurred within ten years (excluding any period of imprisonment) after the commission of a prior act of racketeering activity. The

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

has instructed federal courts to follow the continuity-plus-relationship test in order to determine whether the facts of a specific case give rise to an established pattern. The illegal acts forming a pattern are called "predicate" offenses. Predicate acts are related if they "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." Continuity is both a closed and open ended concept, referring to either a closed period of conduct, or to past conduct that by its nature projects into the future with a threat of repetition.

Famous cases

The

Lucchese crime family The Lucchese crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian Americans, Italian American American Mafia, Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey, within the nationwide c ...

was one of the "''Five Families''" that dominated organized crime activities in New York City. Prosecuting attorneys Gregory O'Connell and Charles Rose used RICO charges to break up the family over an 18-month period. Several members of the Latin Kings have been convicted of RICO offenses.

1978, The Cowboy Mafia

RICO was instrumental in indicting members of The Cowboy Mafia from Texas, Tennessee and Florida. During 1977 and 1978, this group imported over 106 tons of marijuana. Using the shrimp boats ''Agnes Pauline'', ''Monkey'', ''Jubilee'', and ''Bayou Blues'', the group made six trips from Colombia to Texas. The group was arrested in 1978 after the federal government seized the ''Agnes Pauline'' when they were unloading their cargo in

Port Arthur, Texas Port Arthur is a city in the state of Texas, United States of America, located east of metro Houston. Part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, the city lies primarily in Jefferson County, with a small extension in Orange County. ...

. In 1979, twenty-six members of the smuggling ring were convicted. Charles "Muscles" Foster, a ranch foreman and the head of the operation, pleaded innocent by reason of insanity and was acquitted in 1980. In August 1981, Rex Cauble was indicted by a grand jury, as the government believed he was the financial backer of the smugglers. Foster was the foreman for his ranches, and the drugs were transported to Cauble's ranches throughout Texas. Cauble was a multi-millionaire, the former chairman of the Texas Aeronautics Commission, and an honorary Texas Ranger. He was also the owner of Cutter Bill, a famous cutting horse. Cauble was convicted in January 1982 on ten counts: two counts of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act statute (RICO), conspiracy to violate RICO, three violations of the Interstate Commerce Travel Act, and four counts of misapplication of bank funds. He was sentenced to ten concurrent terms of five years. He completed his prison term, was released in September 1987, and died in 2003. Three books about the group were published: ''The Cowboy Mafia'' (2003) by Cauble's personal jet pilot Roy Graham; ''Catching the Katy'' (2017) by Barker Milford; and ''A Conspiracy Revealed'' by DEA agent Daniel Wedeman Sr. As a result of the RICO conviction, Cauble forfeited his 31% interest in Cauble Enterprises, including two Cutter Bill Western World stores, three Texas banks (Western State Bank in Denton, Dallas International Bank and South Main Bank of Houston), six ranches, a welding supply company, and oil and gas holdings. The company's worth was estimated at $80 million. However, the government sold their interest back to the other partners (Cauble's wife and son) for an estimated $12 million.

1979, Hells Angels Motorcycle Club

In 1979, the United States Federal Government went after Sonny Barger and several members and associates of the

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

chapter of the

Hells Angels The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is an international outlaw motorcycle club founded in California whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells ...

using RICO. In ''United States vs. Barger'', the prosecution team attempted to demonstrate a pattern of behavior to convict Barger and other members of the club of RICO offenses related to guns and illegal drugs. The jury acquitted Barger on the RICO charges with a

hung jury A hung jury, also called a deadlocked jury, is a judicial jury that cannot agree upon a verdict after extended deliberation and is unable to reach the required unanimity or supermajority. A hung jury may result in the case being tried again. Thi ...

on the predicate acts: "There was no proof it was part of club policy, and as much as they tried, the government could not come up with any incriminating minutes from any of our meetings mentioning drugs and guns."

1980, Gil Dozier

In 1980, Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry Gil Dozier was charged with violating both Hobbs and RICO laws. The

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

-based United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana accused Dozier of compelling companies doing business with his department to make campaign contributions on his behalf. On September 23, 1980, a jury convicted Dozier of five counts of

and

. The judge sentenced Dozier to 10 years imprisonment which was later upgraded to 18 years when other offenses were determined. A $25,000 fine was suspended pending appeal, and Dozier remained free on

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...

. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans upheld Dozier's conviction. He eventually served nearly four years until a presidential commutation freed him in 1986.

1984, Key West Police Department

Around June 1984, the Key West Police Department located in Monroe County, Florida, was declared a criminal enterprise under the federal RICO statutes after a lengthy

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

investigation. Several high-ranking officers of the department, including Deputy Police Chief Raymond Cassamayor, were arrested on federal charges of running a

protection racket A protection racket is a type of racket and a scheme of organized crime perpetrated by a potentially hazardous organized crime group that generally guarantees protection outside the sanction of the law to another entity or individual from vio ...

for illegal

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

smugglers. At

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

, a witness testified he routinely delivered bags of cocaine to the Deputy Chief's office at City Hall.

1984, The Order

The Order was an American

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

terrorist group active from September 1983 to December 1984. Their intention was to precipitate the collapse of the federal Government or Zionist Occupation Government (ZOG) which they perceived as illegitimate. Their intention was to do so via a campaign of bombings and assassinations. However, in order to fund their actions they turned to armoured car robbery and a counterfeiting and laundering operation. The FBI began to investigate the group using RICO following the assassination of Jewish radio host

Alan Berg Alan Harrison Berg (January 1934 – June 18, 1984) was an American talk radio show host in Denver, Colorado. Born to a Jewish family, he had outspoken atheistic and liberal views and a confrontational interview style. Berg was assassinated b ...

on June 18, 1984, and the arrest of member Tom Martinez, for using counterfeit bills to buy liquor. Martinez informed on The Order and RICO was used by the FBI to bring 10 members of The Order to trial and achieved conviction of racketeering and conspiracy charges. Over the course of The Order's activities they had distributed millions of dollars to the wider far-right movement and Operation Clean Sweep used RICO to bring 14 leading members of the far-right to trial on charges of seditious conspiracy at Fort Smith, alleging their receipt of The Order's funds as connection to their attempt to overthrow the federal government.

1986, Iran-Contra

In 1986, the Christic Institute filed a civil RICO case naming 30 defendants who were also implicated in the Iran-Contra scandal that they were also part of a conspiracy behind the La Penca bombing. The suit, titled Avirgan v Hull named several

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

figures and accused them of participating in illegal political assassinations, as well as arms and drug trafficking. The suit was eventually dismissed in 1989, and lead attorney Daniel Sheehan alleged members of the Iran-Contra enterprise were behind the assassination of judge Robert Vance who was expected to reverse the dismissal. G. Robert Blakey stated it was the best-charged RICO case he had seen, and the litigation spawned a national fundraising effort. In 1990,

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

and

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In 1971, Raitt released her Bonnie Raitt (album), self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed Americana (mu ...

held a benefit concert to support the litigation. A 500-page affadaivit filed in December 1986 was also published as "The Shadow Government."

1989, Michael Milken

On March 29, 1989, American financier Michael Milken was indicted on 98 counts of racketeering and fraud relating to an investigation into an allegation of

insider trading Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) based on material, nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider informati ...

and other offenses. Milken was accused of using a wide-ranging network of contacts to manipulate stock and bond prices. It was one of the first occasions that a RICO indictment was brought against an individual with no ties to organized crime. Milken pleaded guilty to six lesser felonies of securities fraud and tax evasion, rather than risk spending the rest of his life in prison and ended up serving 22 months in prison. Milken was also ordered banned for life from the securities industry. On September 7, 1988, Milken's employer, Drexel Burnham Lambert, was threatened with RICO charges under '' respondeat superior'', the legal doctrine that corporations are responsible for their employees' crimes. Drexel avoided RICO charges by entering an

Alford plea In United States law, an Alford plea, also called a Kennedy plea in West Virginia, an Alford guilty plea, and the Alford doctrine, is a guilty plea in criminal court, whereby a defendant in a criminal case does not admit to the criminal act a ...

to lesser felonies of stock parking and

stock manipulation In economics and finance, market manipulation occurs when someone intentionally alters the supply or demand of a security to influence its price. This can involve spreading misleading information, executing misleading trades, or manipulating ...

. In a carefully worded plea, Drexel said it was "not in a position to dispute the allegations" made by the Government. If Drexel had been indicted under RICO statutes, it would have had to post a performance bond of up to $1 billion to avoid having its assets frozen. That would have taken precedence over all of the firm's other obligations, including the loans that provided 96 percent of its capital base. If the bond ever had to be paid, its shareholders would have been practically wiped out. Since banks will not extend credit to a firm indicted under RICO, an indictment would have likely put Drexel out of business. By at least one estimate, a RICO indictment would have destroyed the firm within a month. Years later, Drexel President and CEO Fred Joseph said that Drexel had no choice but to plead guilty because "a financial institution cannot survive a RICO indictment."

1992, Gambino crime family

John Gotti and Frank Locascio were convicted on April 2, 1992, under the RICO Act and later sentenced to life in prison.

1998, Embassy Bombings and Al Qaeda

After the 1998 simultaneous bombings of the US Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, the US Department of Justice sued

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

''in absentia'' under the RICO statute. A 2004 documentary by BBC filmmaker

Adam Curtis Adam Curtis (born 26 May 1955) is an English documentary filmmaker. Curtis began his career as a conventional documentary producer for the BBC throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The release of '' Pandora's Box'' (1992) marked the in ...

called The Power of Nightmares argued controversially that in order to prosecute bin Laden in absentia, U.S. prosecutors had to prove that he is the head of a criminal organization responsible for the bombings. They found a former associate of bin Laden, Jamal al-Fadl, and paid him to testify that bin Laden was the head of a massive terrorist organization called "

al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

," which satisfied the requirements of the RICO statute, but that in actuality, a formal terrorist organization named "Al Qaeda" did not exist.

2000, Los Angeles Police Department

In 1999 the Rampart scandal broke in the Los Angeles Police Department exposing widespread criminal activity within the department's anti-gang unit called CRASH. 70 officers were initially implicated in planting evidence, dealing drugs, bank robbery, and unlawful killings and beatings. In 2000, Federal District judge William Rea ruled the RICO statute could be used to name the entire LAPD as a criminal enterprise for individuals suing it over police brutality and misconduct. Over 140 civil RICO lawsuits were filed against the department. In July 2001, US District Judge Gary A. Feess said that the plaintiffs did not have standing to sue the LAPD under RICO, because they were alleging personal injuries rather than economic or property damage.

2002, Major League Baseball

In 2001,

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

team owners voted to eliminate two teams, presumably the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

and

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

. In 2002, the former minority owners of the Expos filed charges under the RICO Act against MLB commissioner

Bud Selig Allan Huber "Bud" Selig (; born July 30, 1934) is an American baseball executive who currently serves as the commissioner emeritus of baseball. Previously, he served as the ninth commissioner of baseball from 1998 to 2015. He initially served a ...

and former Expos owner Jeffrey Loria, claiming that Selig and Loria deliberately conspired to devalue the team for personal benefit in preparation for a move. If found liable, Major League Baseball could have been responsible for up to $300 million in

punitive damages Punitive damages, or exemplary damages, are damages assessed in order to punish the defendant for outrageous conduct and/or to reform or deter the defendant and others from engaging in conduct similar to that which formed the basis of the lawsuit. ...

. The case lasted two years, successfully stalling the Expos' move to Washington or contraction during that time. It was eventually sent to

arbitration Arbitration is a formal method of dispute resolution involving a third party neutral who makes a binding decision. The third party neutral (the 'arbitrator', 'arbiter' or 'arbitral tribunal') renders the decision in the form of an 'arbitrati ...

, where the arbiters ruled in favor of Major League Baseball, permitting the move to Washington to take place.

2004, Bonanno crime family

Bonanno crime family boss

Joseph Massino Joseph Charles Massino (January 10, 1943 – September 14, 2023) was an American mobster. He was a member of the American Mafia, Mafia and Crime boss, boss of the Bonanno crime family from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of ...

's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge Nicholas Garaufis presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution. Massino faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to the prospect of prosecutors seeking the death penalty for the murder of Bonanno

caporegime A ''caporegime'' or ''capodecina'', usually shortened to ''capo'' or informally referred to as "captain", "skipper" or "lieutenant", is a leadership position in the Mafia (both the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia). A ''capo'' is a "made m ...

Gerlando Sciascia, that case severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering. After deliberating for five days, the jury found Massino guilty of all 11 counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a sentence of

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

with no possibility of parole. The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million forfeiture of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict. Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.DeStefano 2007, pp. 314–315 He did so in hopes of sparing his life; he was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder. Indeed, one of

John Ashcroft John David Ashcroft (born May 9, 1942) is an American lawyer, Lobbying, lobbyist, and former politician who served as the 79th United States attorney general under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. A Republican Party (United States), R ...

's final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino. Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since Lepke Buchalter was executed in 1944. Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do soRaab, p. 688. (

Philadelphia crime family The Philadelphia crime family, also known as the Bruno–Scarfo crime family,< ...

boss Ralph Natale had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges).

2005, Chicago Outfit

In 2005, the

US Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equ ...

's Operation Family Secrets indicted 14 Chicago Outfit (also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, or the Organization) members and associates under RICO predicates. Five defendants were convicted of RICO violations and other crimes. Six pleaded guilty, two died before trial, and one was too sick to be tried."Family Secrets of the Murderous Kind"
, FBI, October 1, 2007

2005, Connecticut Senator Len Fasano

In 2005, a federal jury ordered Fasano to pay $500,000 under RICO for illegally helping a client hide their assets in a bankruptcy case.

2005, Mohawk Industries

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in ''Williams v. Mohawk Industries, Inc.'' that a corporation could be held liable for "unlawfully conducting the affairs of an association-in-fact enterprise the corporation and its agents." Mohawk Industries had allegedly hired illegal aliens, in violation of RICO. On appeal, the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

was asked to decide whether Mohawk Industries, along with recruiting agencies, constituted an "enterprise" that could be prosecuted under RICO. The Court vacated the Eleventh Circuit decision that had permitted RICO liability.

2006, Gambino crime family

In Tampa, on October 16, 2006, four members of the

( Capo Ronald Trucchio, Terry Scaglione, Steven Catallono, and Anthony Mucciarone and associate Kevin McMahon) were tried under RICO statutes, found guilty, and sentenced to life in prison.

2009, Scott W. Rothstein

Scott W. Rothstein is a disbarred lawyer and the former managing shareholder, chairman, and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the now-defunct Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm. He was accused of funding his philanthropy, political contributions, law firm salaries, and an extravagant lifestyle with a massive 1.2 billion dollar

Ponzi scheme A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays Profit (accounting), profits to earlier investors with Funding, funds from more recent investors. Named after Italians, Italian confidence artist Charles Ponzi, this type of s ...

. On December 1, 2009, Rothstein turned himself in to federal authorities and was subsequently arrested on charges related to RICO. Although his arraignment plea was not guilty, Rothstein cooperated with the government and reversed his plea to guilty of five federal crimes on January 27, 2010. Bond was denied by US Magistrate Judge Robin Rosenbaum, who ruled that due to his ability to forge documents, he was considered a flight risk. On June 9, 2010, Rothstein received a 50-year prison sentence after a hearing in federal court in Fort Lauderdale.

2011, Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella

A federal grand jury in the Middle District of Pennsylvania handed down a 48-count indictment against former Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judges Michael Conahan and

Mark Ciavarella Mark Arthur Ciavarella Jr. (born March 3, 1950) is an American convicted felon and former President Judge of the Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Luzerne County Pennsylvania courts of common pleas, Court of Common Pleas in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvani ...

. The judges were charged with RICO after allegedly committing acts of

mail and wire fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical (e.g., the U.S. Postal Service) or electronic (e.g., a phone, a telegram, a fax, or the Internet) mail system to defraud another, and are U.S. feder ...

tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...

, and honest services fraud. The judges were accused of taking kickbacks for housing juveniles, that the judges convicted of mostly petty crimes, at a private detention center. The incident was dubbed by many local and national newspapers as the " kids for cash scandal". On February 18, 2011, a federal jury found Mark Ciavarella guilty of racketeering because of his involvement in accepting illegal payments from Robert Mericle, the developer of PA Child Care, and Attorney Robert Powell, a co-owner of the facility. Ciavarella is facing 38 other counts in federal court.

2012, AccessHealthSource

Eleven defendants were indicted on RICO charges for allegedly assisting AccessHealthSource, a local health care provider, in obtaining and maintaining lucrative contracts with local and state government entities in the city of El Paso, Texas, "through bribery of and kickbacks to elected officials or himself and others, extortion under color of authority, fraudulent schemes and artifices, false pretenses, promises and representations and deprivation of the right of citizens to the honest services of their elected local officials" (see indictment).

2013, Trump University

''Art Cohen vs. Donald J. Trump'' was a civil RICO

class action suit A class action A class action is a form of lawsuit. Class Action may also refer to: * ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio * Class Action (band), a garage house band * "Class Action" (''Teenage R ...

filed October 18, 2013, accusing

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

of misrepresenting Trump University "to make tens of millions of dollars" but delivering "neither Donald Trump nor a university". The case was being heard in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, No. 3:2013cv02519, by Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel. It was scheduled for argument beginning November 28, 2016. However, on November 18 and shortly after Trump won the presidential election, this case and two others were settled for a total of $25 million to be paid to the plaintiffs, but without any admission of wrongdoing by Trump.

2015, Drummond Company

In 2015, the Drummond Company sued attorneys Terrence P. Collingsworth and William R. Scherer, the advocacy group International Rights Advocates (IRAdvocates), and Dutch businessman Albert van Bilderbeek, one of the owners of Llanos Oil, accusing them of violating RICO by alleging that Drummond had worked alongside Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia to murder labor union leaders within proximity of their Colombian coal mines, which Drummond denies.Kent Faulk, "Drummond sues those claiming coal company involved in Colombian deaths", ''The Birmingham News'', April 8, 2015

2015, FIFA

Fourteen defendants affiliated with

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

were indicted under the RICO act on 47 counts for "racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies, among other offenses, in connection with the defendants' participation in a 24-year scheme to enrich themselves through the corruption of international soccer". The defendants include many current and former high-ranking officers of FIFA and its affiliate

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...

. The defendants had allegedly used the enterprise as a front to collect millions of dollars in bribes, which may have influenced Russia and Qatar's winning bids to host the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, respectively.

2022, YSL Records

In May 2022, rapper Young Thug was arrested in a RICO indictment filed against him and his YSL Records label. The indictment, filed by Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, consisted of 56 counts against 28 affiliates of the label, with Thug himself facing 8 charges. The indictment alleged that YSL was not only a record label, but a street gang that was partaking in violent activity in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The case, originally presided over by Judge Ural D. Glanville, has been mired in controversy; including allegations from Thug's lawyer Brian Steel that Glanville had participated in a secret Ex parte, ''ex-parte'' meeting with the prosecution. The allegations of this meeting resulted in Steel being held in contempt of court and taken into custody, as he refused to disclose the source of his information; he was sentenced to 10 weekends in jail, but this was overturned on appeal. Shortly thereafter, Glanville was recused from the case. The case is currently being presided over by Judge Paige Reese Whitaker. This case is notable as it included the longest jury selection process in Georgia's history (10 months), and it has been the longest trial in Georgia's history.

2023, Donald Trump

In August 2023, the District Attorney of Fulton County, Georgia, Fani Willis, filed charges under the Georgia state RICO act against

and parties involved, including

. The Georgia law contains a list of 40 state crimes or acts that together can be classified as "racketeering schemes". It is broader than the federal law in that attempting, soliciting, coercing, and intimidating another person to commit any of the offenses can also be considered organized crime.

Application of RICO laws

Although some of the RICO predicate acts are

and blackmail, one of the most successful applications of the RICO laws has been the ability to indict and or sanction individuals for their behavior and actions committed against witnesses and victims in alleged retaliation or retribution for cooperating with federal law enforcement or intelligence agencies. Violations of the RICO laws can be alleged in civil lawsuit cases or for criminal charges. In these instances, charges can be brought against individuals or corporations in retaliation for said individuals or corporations working with law enforcement. Further, charges can also be brought against individuals or corporations who have sued or filed criminal charges against a defendant. Anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) laws can be applied in an attempt to curb alleged Barratry (common law), abuses of the legal system by individuals or corporations who use the courts as a weapon to retaliate against whistle blowers or victims or to silence another's speech. RICO could be alleged if it can be shown that lawyers or their clients conspired and collaborated to concoct fictitious legal complaints solely in retribution and retaliation for themselves having been brought before the courts. Although the RICO laws may cover drug trafficking crimes in addition to other more traditional RICO predicate acts such as extortion, blackmail, and racketeering, large-scale and organized drug networks are now commonly prosecuted under the

, also known as the "Kingpin Statute". The CCE laws target only traffickers who are responsible for long-term and elaborate conspiracies, whereas the RICO law covers a variety of organized criminal behaviors.

''YSL Records''

On May 9, 2022, rappers Young Thug, Gunna (rapper), Gunna, and 28 other people were arrested on RICO charges stemming from a grand jury indictment filed in Georgia's Fulton County Courts. On May 14, 2022, only a few days later, a fellow YSL member, Lil Keed, died due to kidney and liver failure.

References

Bagchi, Aysha. Bloomberg Tax. "Participants in IRS-Targeted Land Deals Sue Alleged Promoters". March 27, 2020.

External links

As codified in 18 U.S.C. chapter 96
of the United States Code from the Legal Information Institute, LII
As codified in 18 U.S.C. chapter 96
of the United States Code from the United States House of Representatives, US House of Representatives {{DEFAULTSORT:Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations Act Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, 1970 in American law 91st United States Congress Organized crime terminology Organized crime in the United States United States federal criminal legislation American Mafia events Inchoate offenses United States federal public corruption crime Acts related to organized crime