Everyone always talks about how Capone went down for tax evasion.
However, with modern laws, he would have gone down much earlier and much more easily.
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly referred to as the RICO Act or simply RICO stemmed from anti-crime hearings held from 1962 to 1964 by Sen. John McClellan (D-Ark.), the bill’s prime sponsor.
A McClellan aide, G. Robert Blakey, drafted the action to that acts performed, by an ongoing criminal organization.
It also gave grand juries new powers.
To assist law enforcement, uncooperative witnesses can be detained.
In fact, One of the most important aspects of the Act was the critical amount of protection granted for witnesses in cases involving organized crime, as it provided immunity for witnesses in exchange for testimony as well as security for witnesses and potential witnesses.
The importance of security for witnesses, particularly in cases like the Bulger trial, was showcased when Stephen Rakes, a key witness, was found dead twenty miles outside of Boston.
In addition, it gave lengthy prison sentences for anyone convicted of two or more crimes from a list of 35 federal and state offenses within a 10 year period.
Further, under the RICO Act associated members of a criminal enterprise could be tried for a crime even if they only ordered, or participated in the planning of the crime.
During the signing of the bill, President Nixon praised members of the Justice Department, FBI, and the Secret Service for their efforts, while also stressing that the war on organized crime could be won.
The act also criminalized gambling organizations that involved five or more people if they had been in business more than 30 days or accumulated $2,000 in revenue in a single day.
Background
After the Lucky Luciano restructured, the Mafia in 1930s.
Lucky’s vision of replacing traditional Sicilian strong-arm methods with a corporate structure, a board of directors and systematic infiltration of legitimate enterprise failed to impress Maranzano.
An ancient-history aficionado and would-be Julius Caesar, Maranzano aspired to be boss of all bosses.
Most of all, he wanted to avoid Caesar’s fatal miscalculation.
He found Lucky too ambitious, too enterprising, too dangerous, but it was Maranzano who was too late.
He was killed by police impersonators, hit men provided by Lansky and mutual friend Benjamin (“Bugsy”) Siegel. More rubouts followed, in a well-orchestrated cutback of old-time Sicilian gangsters.
Yet Luciano’s management style would be far different from that of his Chicago counterpart Al Capone, who spent more time killing than doing business.
The FBI describes Luciano’s ascendancy as the watershed event in the history of organized crime.
After his hostile takeover, Luciano re-organized crime.
That was in the 1930s, which went primarily unchecked until basically 1970.
Between that time a mafia career a the top was extremely lucrative.
Prior to the Rico Act, Federal Law stated a person could only be charged for a crime they personally committed – also called ”singular liability”.
This loophole was exploited for decades, by Mafia defense lawyers until 1970, when the Rico Act was signed into law by US President Nixon.
The syndicate was operated by two dozen family bosses who controlled bootlegging, numbers, narcotics, prostitution, the waterfront, the unions, food marts, bakeries and the garment trade, their influence and tentacles ever expanding, infiltrating and corrupting legitimate business, politics and law enforcement.
Which basically meant, the were gaining more power than the government.
Now it was up to the Feds to re-organize.
Senator John McClellan the conducted the 1st and 2nd United States Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in Labor and Management.
It was at this point when Jimmy Hoffa was investigated for union corruption, which lasted from January 1957 to March 1960.
The second was also dubbed the Valachi hearings, investigated the operations of organized crime and featured the testimony of Joseph Valachi, the first American mafia figure to testify about the activities of organized crime.
He continued his efforts against organized crime, during this period, he hired Robert F. Kennedy as chief counsel and vaulted him into the national spotlight.
They came up with the Rico Act which focuses specifically on racketeering, and it allows the leaders of a syndicate to be tried for the crimes which they ordered others to do or assisted them in doing, closing a perceived loophole that allowed a person who instructed someone else to, for example, murder, to be exempt from the trial because they did not actually commit the crime personally.
It’s purpose was to cripple the whole crime organization on numerous charges, which could be brought against multiple defendants, its tactic is called multiple liability, which means if prosecutors now find the underlying elements of of these acts and you have conspiracy on top of it , then each and every charge against you is separate and runs consecutively .
For example if you were charged with drug trafficking and conspiracy that charge may have led to 10-15 years in prison in the old days, now under RICO, those found guilty of racketeering can be fined up to $25,000 and and sentenced to 20 years in prison per each racketeering count.
RICO was the “ultimate hit man” in mob prosecutions. *It’s very important to remember, this law was designed to make convictions easier. In many cases, the threat of a RICO indictment can force defendants to plead guilty to lesser charges, in part because the seizure of assets would make it difficult to pay a defense attorney. Racketeering and RICO-related crimes are grave and require skilled defense ,that is prepared to face the government-assembled legal teams in federal court. Essentially, “it means the convicted would never see the light of day again, they are never getting out. “
Despite its harsh provisions, a RICO-related charge is considered easy to prove in court, as it focuses on patterns of behavior as opposed to criminal acts. RICO also permits a private individual “damaged in his business or property” by a “racketeer” to file a civil suit.
The plaintiff must prove the existence of an “enterprise“.
The defendant(s) are not the enterprise; in other words, the defendant(s) and the enterprise are not one and the same.
There must be one of four specified relationships
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the defendant(s) and the enterprise: either the defendant(s) invested the proceeds of the pattern of racketeering activity into the enterprise
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the defendant(s) acquired or maintained an interest in, or control of, the enterprise through the pattern of racketeering activity
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the defendant(s) conducted or participated in the affairs of the enterprise “through” the pattern of racketeering activity ;
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the defendant(s) conspired to do one of the above crimes.
In essence, the enterprise is either the ‘prize,’ ‘instrument,’ ‘victim,’ or ‘perpetrator’ of the racketeers.
A civil RICO action can be filed in state or federal court.
Both the criminal and civil components allow the recovery of treble damages (damages in triple the amount of actual/compensatory damages).
Prior to RICO, prosecutors could only try mob-related crimes individually. Since different mobsters perpetrated each crime, the government could only prosecute individual criminals instead of shutting down an entire criminal organization.
Review of aspects of RICO:
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it focuses on patterns of behavior as opposed to criminal acts.
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multiple liability (charges could be brought against multiple defendants,
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which means if prosecutors now find the underlying elements of of these acts and you have conspiricy on top of it)
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each and every charge against you is seperate and runs consecutively .
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hearsay evidence became admissible
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associative evidence was allowed ( guilt by association meaning if a defendant profited off the crimes of an organization even if he was not directly involved with the crime himself he could still be charged as a co-conspirator and go all the way up the chain of command)
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made mafia/ organized crime convictions easier
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an intricate system of rewards and punishments to help flip wiseguys into snitches (rats, songbirds etc, which was difficult before due to OMERTA)
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allowed for asset seizure – a first in American jurisprudence (This provision was placed in the law because the owners of Mafia-related shell corporations often absconded with the assets)
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An injunction and/or performance bond ensures that there is something to seize in the event of a guilty verdict
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In addition, the racketeer must forfeit all ill-gotten gains and interest in any business gained through a pattern of “racketeering activity.”
Today, the government rarely uses RICO against the Mafia.
Instead, because the law is so broad, both governmental and civil parties use it against all sorts of enterprises, both legal and illegal.
The RICO Act was first used by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York on September 18, 1979, in the United States v. Scotto. Scotto, who was convicted on charges of racketeering, accepting unlawful labor payments, and income tax evasion, headed the International Longshoreman’s Association.
The second major success was the Mafia Commission Trial, which resulted in several top leaders of New York City’s Five Families getting what amounted to life sentences. By the turn of the century, RICO cases resulted in virtually all of the top leaders of the New York Mafia being sent to prison.
Other high profile crime cases that used the Rico Act:
Hells Angels Motorcycle Club:
In 1979 the United States Federal Government went after Sonny Barger and several members and associates of the Oakland chapter of the Hells Angels using RICO.
In United States vs. Barger, the prosecution team attempted to demonstrate a pattern of behavior to convict Barger and other members of the club of RICO offenses related to guns and illegal drugs. The jury acquitted Barger on the RICO charges with a hung jury.
On November 21, 1980, Genovese crime family boss Frank “Funzi” Tieri was the first Mafia boss to be convicted under the RICO Act.In some jurisdictions, RICO suits have been filed again.
Catholic Sex Abuse cases and Catholic dioceses, using anti-racketeering laws to prosecute the highers-up in the episcopacy for abuses committed by those under their authority.
E.g. a Cleveland grand jury cleared two bishops of racketeering charges, finding that their mishandling of sex abuse claims did not amount to criminal racketeering.
Notably, a similar suit was not filed against Cardinal Bernard Law, then Archbishop/Emeritus of Boston, prior to his assignment to Vatican City. In 2016, RICO charges were considered for cover-ups in Pennsylvania.
In April 2000, federal judge William J. Rea in Los Angeles, ruling in one Rampart scandal case, said that the plaintiffs could pursue RICO claims against the LAPD, an unprecedented finding. The idea that a police organization could be characterized as a racketeering enterprise shook up City Hall and further damaged the already-tarnished image of the LAPD.
In a 2002 lawsuit charges four people with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO): Selig; Bob DuPuy, baseball’s chief operating officer; Jeffrey Loria, who last winter sold the Expos to Major League Baseball and bought the Florida Marlins; and David Samson, the Marlins’ president.
Linking the baseball commissioner and his chief aide to violations of a federal racketeering statute, 14 Canadian companies that were former limited partners of the Montreal Expos drew an angry response yesterday as they sued Bud Selig and others while charging they conspired in a fraudulent scheme to eliminate the Expos.
On August 20, 2006, in Tampa, Florida, most of the state leadership members of the street gang, the Latin Kings, were arrested in connection with RICO conspiracy charges to engage in racketeering. The operation, called “Broken Crown“, targeted statewide leadership of the Latin Kings. The raid occurred at the Caribbean American Club with Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, Tampa Police Department, the State Attorney’s Office, the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the ATF were involved in the operation.
Scott W. Rothstein is a disbarred lawyer and the former managing shareholder, chairman, and chief executive officer of the now-defunct Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm. He was accused of funding his philanthropy, political contributions, law firm salaries, and an extravagant lifestyle with a massive 1.2 billion dollar Ponzi scheme.
In 2005, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Operation Family Secrets indicted 15 Chicago Outfit (also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, or The Organization) members and associates under RICO predicates. Five defendants were convicted of RICO violations and other crimes. Six plead guilty, two died before trial and one was too sick to be tried.
