NCJ Number
78840
Date Published
1980
Length
34 pages
Annotation
Possible benefits for the States of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), the legislative history of RICO, and the meaning and implementation of RICO are discussed.
Abstract
RICO can help the States in providing a base for developing State legislative reform for dealing with organized criminal enterprises. Further, RICO allows for Federal prosecution of criminal enterprises that violate State criminal laws in their activity, but which, for various reasons, cannot be successfully prosecuted under existing State law. The Federal RICO also promises to State and local prosecutors collateral private assistance in dealing with the sophisticated crime problem. The final legislation grew from the primary concern to devise civil and criminal penalties to deal with the practice of investing money gained from illegal enterprises in legitimate businesses. While many viewed the final RICO legislation as being applicable primarily to Mafia operations, it provides for and has been used to prosecute political corruption, white-collar crime, and career-type engagement in offenses usually termed 'street crime.' RICO is essentially designed to provide additional sanctions for persons convicted of individual criminal offenses where the individual offenses can be shown to be part of a planned criminal pattern. A criminal pattern is defined as a minimum of two criminal acts committed within a 10-year period, characterized by similar objectives. RICO sanctions provide for a $25,000 fine; 20 years imprisonment; and forfeiture of any property or assets gained as a result of the racketeering. Prosecutors should beware in implementing RICO to spread the net so broadly that every person or group involved in more than one offense which can be linked in some way will be prosecuted under RICO. Such indiscriminate use of RICO will surely produce its demise. Thirty-one footnotes are listed.