Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act

The criminal justice system was historically designed to prosecute an individual for committing a crime at a particular place and time and against a single victim. The system was not well equipped to deal with crimes committed by structured, layered, organized groups of individuals who engaged in crimes for profit.

In 1970, to address this shortcoming in the law, Congress passed the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. This act is found in Title 18 of the United States Code, Part I, Chapter 96, Sections 1961 through 1968, and is part of the Organized Crime Control Act. The act is composed of eight sections dealing with definitions, prohibited activities, criminal penalties, civil remedies, venue and process, expedition of actions, evidence, and civil investigative demand. The act provides for the criminal prosecution and punishment of violators and for civil forfeiture and recovery of property and assets resulting from RICO activities.

The act defines covered violations of the law in great detail. Under the act, racketeering activity includes involvement in the behaviors of murder, kidnapping, gambling, arson, robbery, bribery, extortion, dealing in obscene matter, dealing in a controlled substance, bribery, sports bribery, counterfeiting, theft of interstate shipments, and embezzlement from pension and welfare funds. Also included are credit card extortions, identification fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, unlawful procurement or sale of citizenship, obstruction of criminal investigations, witness tampering, misuse of passports or visas, money laundering, interstate transportation of stolen motor vehicles and other stolen property, trafficking in counterfeit computer programs and motion pictures, copyright infringement, trafficking in contraband cigarettes, embezzlement of union funds, and improper securities dealings.

Prohibited activities under this law include (1) receiving any income derived, directly or indirectly, from a pattern of racketeering activity or through collection of an unlawful debt or using such income to acquire any interest in a criminal enterprise; (2) acquiring or maintaining any interest or control of an enterprise engaged in interstate or foreign commerce; and (3) conspiring to violate the RICO Act. An enterprise is defined as any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other entity and any union or group of individuals associated in fact although not a legal entity.

For the law to be successfully applied to a criminal violation, certain specifics must be met. The major legal issues are the existence of an enterprise that was engaged in interstate or foreign commerce; a pattern[Page 834] of racketeering activity; a connection between the individuals involved in the racketeering activity and the enterprise; and in civil cases, proof that the harm suffered was directly caused by the racketeering acts. An important requirement of the act is the necessity that a pattern of racketeering activity be proven. Within the act, pattern is defined as at least two racketeering instances occurring within 10 years of each other. As cases passed through the courts over the years, it became important to distinctly prove that there was an actual connection between the individuals involved in the allegations of racketeering and the criminal enterprise. The mere existence of one does not infer the presence of the other.

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