Racketeering
US federal charge under the 1970 RICO statute for running a criminal enterprise
Racketeering is a concept in US federal criminal law describing the operation, management of, or participation in a criminal organization through repeated, serious offenses. It is not a single act, but an allegation that a person has systematically been part of a criminal structure over time. The concept is defined and regulated through the RICO statute — the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act — enacted in 1970 with the primary purpose of combating organized crime in the United States. RICO allows prosecutors to charge a person not merely with individual crimes, but with participation in the criminal enterprise as a whole.
For a racketeering charge to be brought under RICO, it is typically required that a 'pattern' of so-called 'racketeering activity' can be demonstrated — that is, at least two of the offenses listed in the statute, which must have occurred within a period of ten years. The listed offenses cover a broad spectrum, including fraud, extortion, drug trafficking, human smuggling and sexual exploitation.
In cases such as those against R. Kelly, El Chapo, John Gotti and Sean Combs, the racketeering charge has served precisely the function of gathering a long series of individual acts under one overarching accusation: that the defendant did not merely commit crimes, but ran or was a central part of an ongoing criminal organization. It is this construction that makes RICO a particularly powerful legal instrument — and that makes racketeering fundamentally different from an ordinary criminal charge for a single offense.
The penalties for racketeering are severe. A conviction can carry up to 20 years in prison per charged act under RICO, and the statute also opens the way for asset forfeiture and civil damages claims, giving authorities the ability to attack the very financial foundation of a criminal organization.
