![]() If you think you've been seriously injured by criminal activity that is covered by RICO, consult with a lawyer to see if you have a case. The Supreme Court held that RICO has a four-year statute of limitations, which begins tolling from the time the victim discovers his or her damages. A pattern requires the crimes be related in some way-same victim, same methods, same participants-or continuous, meaning it was conducted over at least a year. You have to show a pattern of at least two crimes. If you bring a claim on a fraud basis, however, the court will apply strict scrutiny. You must show that the defendant committed one of the enumerated RICO crimes, which include the broad crimes of mail and wire fraud. To succeed on a RICO claim, a plaintiff must show: In the 1980s, civil lawyers attempted to fit many different claims inside of RICO, but in the 1990s the federal courts set up a number of hurdles for civil RICO claims. Anyone can bring a civil suit if they've been injured by a RICO violation, and if they win, receive treble damages. Civil RICOĮven though RICO threatens very long prison terms for racketeers, the law's real power is its civil component. The law also allows prosecutors to attach assets, so they can't be whisked out of the country before judgment. The criminal RICO statute provides for prison terms of 20 years and severe financial penalties. Thus, a corporation may be the enterprise through which individuals commit crimes, but it can't be both an individual and the enterprise. ![]() The enterprise just has to be a discrete entity but an enterprise is not the same as an individual. But it may also be a corporation, a political party, or a managed care company. This might be a crime family, a street gang or a drug cartel. To charge under RICO, at least two predicate crimes within 10 years must have been committed through the enterprise. These crimes are known as "predicate" offenses. Significantly, mail and wire fraud are included on the list. The law defines 35 offenses as constituting racketeering, including gambling, murder, kidnapping, arson, drug dealing, bribery. To violate RICO, a person must engage in a pattern of racketeering activity connected to an enterprise. While RICO was originally aimed at the Mafia, over the past 37 years, prosecutors have used it to attack many forms of organized crime: street gangs, gang cartels, corrupt police departments and even politicians. ![]() ven the strongest stand-up guy would have trouble fading the 20-year (and more) sentences that began accompanying RICO convictions." Smith described the impact of RICO in an article for the Las Vegas Review-Journal: "After RICO, mob families began to crack under the very real threat that members and associates could be indicted en masse for a wide range of criminal activity. And RICO established much enhanced sentences, as well. For mob prosecutions, that means that the government can go after top leadership as well as the hit men and capos. ![]() RICO allows for prosecution of all individuals involved in a corrupt organization. Instead, because the law is so broad, both governmental and civil parties use it against all sorts of enterprises, both legal and illegal. Today, the government rarely uses RICO against the Mafia. Since different mobsters perpetrated each crime, the government could only prosecute individual criminals instead of shutting down an entire criminal organization. Prior to RICO, prosecutors could only try mob-related crimes individually. The federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law was passed in 1970 as the "ultimate hit man" in mob prosecutions. ![]()
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