A Rico ACT Essay PDF

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A paper on the Rico ACT....

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RICO ACT

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RICO ACT

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This paper focuses on the creation of the RICO Act and what crimes fall under the act. The Substantive and Procedural laws will be addressed which will explain what the police, courts, and defendants have the option to do. The punishments for offenders of RICO will be explained. There will be brief explanation of famous RICO cases through history.

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3 Substantive Criminal Law Term Paper

Origin The RICO Act was signed into effect by President Richard Nixon on October 15th of 1970. During the 1950’s and 1960’s Congress had a primary concern to prohibit gambling organizations that were using the money towards other illegal activities. RICO Act is an acronym which stands for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Racketeering The RICO Act primarily focuses on racketeering offenses to take down leaders of large corrupt organizations. N.J.S.A 2C:41-2 states that a person has committed racketeering if they commit any of the following crimes at least twice within 10 years of each other: Alteration of motor vehicle VIN numbers, arson, bribery, burglary, criminal usury, distribution of a controlled substance (except less than 1oz of marijuana), extortion, forgery, general fraud, human trafficking, illegal gambling, kidnapping, leading a firearms trafficking network, murder, promoting prostitution, robbery, securities fraud, terrorism, theft, unlawful manufacture/purchase/use of firearms, unlawful possession or use of destructive devices or explosives, and unlawful weapons training for illegal activity. Racketeering under NJSA 2C:41-2 also states that, if you receive any income derived from a pattern of racketeering activity or use/invest any part of that income or its proceeds in acquisition of any interest in an enterprise or in the establishment or operation of an enterprise that is engaged in activities that affect trade or commerce, you can be convicted of racketeering in New Jersey. Generally, racketeering involves obtaining/extorting money from another person or entity, and it was designed to target people engaging in a pattern of illegal activity carried out as part of an enterprise that is owned or controlled by the people engaging in the illegal activity. Racketeering is commonly referred to as a blanket or a catch all offense because so many crimes fall under the category of racketeering. Substantive Law Elements: “Racketeering activity” for purposes of the RICO Act means any act “chargeable” under several generically described state criminal laws, any act “indictable” under numerous specific federal criminal provisions, including mail and wire fraud, and any “offense” involving bankruptcy or securities fraud or drug-related activities that is “punishable” under federal law.

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The RICO Act prohibits the use of income derived from a “pattern of racketeering activity” to acquire an interest in or establish an enterprise engaged in or affecting interstate commerce; the acquisition or maintenance of any interest in an enterprise “through” a pattern of racketeering activity; conducting or participating in the conduct of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity; and conspiring to violate any of these provisions. (uslegal.com) Also according to uslegal.com, the gravamen of the offense under RICO Act is the illegal derivation of the funds. The offenses considered as racketeering activity include bribery, counterfeiting, embezzlement from pension and welfare funds, fraud relating to identification documents and access devices, extortionate credit transactions, transmission of gambling information, mail fraud, wire fraud, witness tampering, retaliation against witness, obstruction of state or local law enforcement, interference with commerce, bribery, or extortion, interstate transportation in aid of racketeering, unlawful welfare fund payments, money laundering, monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activities, sexual exploitation of children, interstate transportation of stolen property, sale of stolen goods, embezzlement from union funds, etc. In addition, bankruptcy fraud, fraud in the sale of securities, felonious manufacture, importation, receiving, concealment, buying, selling, or otherwise dealing in narcotic or other dangerous drugs, and any act indictable under the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act are considered to be racketeering activity. (uslegal.com) Punishment: Anyone who is in violation of state law which constitute racketeering activity under the RICO Act must be sent to prison for more than one year, these are the guidelines of the RICO Act. RICO authorizes severe penalties of fine and imprisonment. The maximum punishment for an individual on a single RICO charge is imprisonment for twenty years (life if any of the

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predicate acts charged, such as murder, would permit such a punishment), and a fine of $250,000 or twice the proceeds of the offense. Prison time and large fines are not the only punishment that criminals face that violate the RICO Act. The RICO Act also allows any of the criminals assets that can be linked to the crimes he/she committed to be forfeited and taken by authorities, jrank.org states the following, ‘’ RICO imposes, as a mandatory penalty, a judgment of forfeiture to the United States government not only of any proceeds or property derived from the proceeds of the crime, but also of any interest the defendant holds in the enterprise, or any property of any kind that provides a source of influence over the enterprise. The latter provisions, rooted in the statute's original purpose of preventing criminal control of legitimate business, aim not only to punish the offender, but also to deny continuing power over an enterprise to anyone who has corrupted it to criminal ends. Such forfeitures can be extremely harsh, and even disproportionate to the offense. For example, if an executive defrauds a number of customers of one division of a giant corporation, the forfeiture would encompass all of the offender's stockholdings in the company, whether the dollar value of those holdings was large or small in proportion to the losses caused by the fraud. In one Supreme Court case, the proprietor of an adult bookstore, convicted under RICO for selling a number of obscene books, forfeited to the government his entire store, including a large volume of non-obscene material. The Court held that since all the books were now property of the government, they could be destroyed, whether or not they were obscene.’’ (law.jrank.org) Defenses: The defenses that lawyers will use for their defendants guilty under RICO Act will vary by crime, since there is a wide range of crimes that fall under the RICO Act. The most common defenses are:

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1. The defendant was not a member of the criminal organization. 2. The defendant did not have knowledge that his action were furthering the agenda of a criminal organization. These two defenses are the most common for defendants to use, but it is also the easiest for investigators to prove guilty through investigation. Procedural During an investigation under RICO, the prosecutor and police have the right to detain any individuals that are suspected to be involved in organized crime to bring in for an interview for questioning. The prosecutor and police also have the authority to search and seize any property that is believed to be incorporated with organized crime and arrest any individuals as long as they have sufficient amount of evidence that links the person to racketeering. The judge will be able to decide whether or not the defendant should be allowed to be offered a bail. The defendant can also file motions to have a trial by jury if he/she is not happy with the decision of a judge. A judge can also decide if the defendants sentence will include parole or if they must complete their full sentence without parole. The defendant may also face civil issues if his victims decide to sue him to get monetary compositions returned if the defendant gained money from the victims through means related to their racketeering offenses. Historic Cases The RICO Act helped take down large crime syndicates and helped suppress the activity of large criminal enterprises. The RICO Act also inspired other countries to pass laws of their own similar to RICO.

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Police in Oakland California conducted an investigation on the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club which led to the arrest of high ranking Hells Angel Sonny Barger and other members on offenses related to firearms charges and drug charges. The first mafia boss to be convicted under the RICO Act was the famous Frank Tieri from the Genovese crime family. Four members from the Gambino crime family were arrested in 2006 for violating RICO and were all sentenced to life in prison. The RICO Act has also helped take down corrupt police officers, famous cases from the Key West Police Department and Los Angeles Police Department are prime examples. In Key West several high ranked officers and the Chief of police were arrested for protecting and being involved in the smuggling of cocaine.

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http://extortion.uslegal.com/racketeer-influenced-and-corrupt-organizations-rico-act/ http://law.jrank.org/pages/1962/RICO-Racketeer-Influenced-Corrupt-Organizations-ActPenalties.html http://statelaws.findlaw.com/texas-law/texas-racketeering-rico-laws.html...