Understand Racketeering and Connect with an Attorney

What Is Racketeering?

Racketeering is a criminal activity in which a person engages in illegal business activities or extortion. This is most commonly found in organized crime groups. Racketeering involves a pattern of crimes involving:

• Robbery
• Bribery
• Extortion
• Gambling
• Dealing obscenely
• Dealing in the manufacturing or distribution of controlled substances
• Arson
• Kidnapping
• Murder

Have you found yourself involved in racketeering charges? If so, turn your case over to a reputable and experienced legal advocate.

The RICO Act

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, passed in 1970, was designed to combat organized crime. Before its enactment, prosecuting crime bosses were challenging because they rarely carried out crimes themselves, delegating illegal activities to others. Despite overseeing criminal enterprises, they avoided charges by staying removed from the actual offenses.

The RICO Act enables prosecutors to hold crime bosses and other participants in organized crime accountable for racketeering. To secure a conviction under RICO, prosecutors must prove the defendant owns, manages, or operates an organization that regularly engages in illegal activities.

While originally intended to dismantle organized crime networks, the RICO Act has been applied more broadly. For instance, it has been used to prosecute clergy members who permitted patterns of abuse, such as priests overseeing churches where child molestation occurred. Though these leaders did not directly commit the crimes, they allowed ongoing illegal activity under their authority.

The Elements of a Racketeering Case

Under the RICO Act, it is illegal and a federal crime to engage in any of the following:

• Conduct affairs of a business through racketeering activities
• Acquire or maintain a business/organization through racketeering activities
• Use money earned from racketeering to acquire, establish, or manage any organization that affects interstate commerce
• Conspire to do any of the above

If a person receives racketeering charges under the RICO act because of the above crimes, the prosecution must demonstrate the existence of three elements in the defendant’s activities. The following section breaks down what the prosecution needs to prove during a racketeering case.

There Must Be a Pattern of Criminal Activity

Racketeering involves a pattern of an organization or business’s illegal activities. The crimes committed that fall under the racketeering umbrella are “predicate crimes,” and there must be at least two of those crimes committed in the past year.

For a pattern to exist, the predicate crimes must relate to each other and show that the defendant did not just commit one crime, but ongoing criminal activities. Predicate crimes can include countless charges, including drug trafficking, kidnapping, robbery, and embezzlement. An example of a pattern of predicate crimes is selling drugs frequently.

It Is a Criminal Enterprise

A pattern of criminal activities is not enough for a racketeering conviction. A distinct criminal enterprise must perform illegal activities, not just a person working alone. For example, a business, organization, union, partnership or tight-knit informal group (such as a gang) are enterprises. For a group to constitute a criminal enterprise, it must:

• Be an ongoing organization that functions together as a unit
• Exist separately and apart from each member’s criminal activity
• Have a common purpose

Just because a group of people commits a pattern of crime does not make them a criminal enterprise. They must meet the above criteria to fall under the racketeering umbrella.

For a prosecutor to convict a defendant with racketeering, he or she must take this one step further. The defendant not only needs to take part in a criminal enterprise, but evidence must exist that the defendant had some level of control over the operation or management of the enterprise.

There Is an Effect on Interstate Commerce

RICO violations must affect interstate commerce, which means it has a significant economic impact from state to state. Most organizations that deal with and move goods, money, or people satisfy this requirement.

Penalties for Racketeering

The penalties for a racketeering criminal conviction are severe and range from 20 years to life, and punishment severity depends on the number of predicate crimes and the crimes committed. For example, racketeering can lead to a life sentence if the predicate crimes involve first-degree murder.

The RICO Act also permits the forfeiture of any assets obtained because of racketeering activity. This means the government would obtain ownership of things like properties, cars, or money that resulted from organized illegal activities.

In addition to criminal convictions, the RICO laws also permit civil suits against racketeers. If a person suffered financial harm because of a loss of business or damage of property because of racketeering activities, that individual can bring a civil suit against the at-fault party. If the plaintiff proves the existence of a RICO violation that resulted in financial harm, then the court orders the defendant to:

• Pay the plaintiff triple damages
• Stop engaging in certain activities
• Pay the plaintiff’s legal fees

The civil suit requirements for proving a violation of the RICO Act are similar to the criminal charge requirements.

Work With an Experienced Local Lawyer

Were you recently charged with racketeering? Do you need a confident, experienced, and dedicated attorney to fight for you in court and defend your rights? If so, you are in the right place. Request Legal Help has all the information and resources you need. By filling out and submitting the form on our website, we can connect you to racketeering attorneys near you.

If you have questions, submit a request online or call us today at (866) 345-6784 to get in touch with an experienced lawyer in your area!

About the Author

Aaron is a professional legal writer with a B.S. in English Education from Southern Illinois University – Carbondale. He has written, published, and edited thousands of legal articles for RequestLegalHelp, which has connected over 5 million people to legal help in the United States.

With over five years of experience writing thousands of legal articles for law firms across the U.S. and Canada, Aaron specializes in covering federal, state, and city-level legal issues ranging from auto accidents to wrongful terminations. Contact Aaron at [email protected] for article suggestions, collaborations, or inquiries.