RICO Act and Criminal Racketeering Laws

Criminal Racketeering and RICO

Criminal racketeering is the act of making money in a legitimate business by a criminal organization. This kind of illegal activity is covered in the RICO laws (Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organization), and allows for the seizure of all of the assets belonging to the organization.

The objective of these kinds of laws is to eliminate any sources of income for criminal organizations to use to perpetuate criminal activity.

While the Federal RICO Act was enacted in 1970, state governments have since enacted their own sets of RICO laws which allow plaintiff's to bring civil suits against defendants for injuries or damages sustained in criminal violations against them. Similar to the criminal Victim's Compensation Act, however plaintiffs in the state mandated RICO cases are allowed judgments up to three times the actual amount of damages sustained. The state RICO laws further differ from their Federal counter-parts in the statute of limitations, the expanse of criminal activities included in the laws, easier established elements, and recovery of damages that are non-existent in the Federal version.

In order for a crime charged under the RICO Act to be proven, the government must show that there was in fact an established business; that the enterprise affected interstate commerce and trade; that the person accused was involved or had knowledge of the enterprise, either as an associate, employee, or other involved party; that the defendant was further involved in a pattern of activity that could fall under the RICO/Racketeering Laws; and that at least two acts of racketeering were participated in by the defendant, while involved in and participating with the enterprise in question.

The criteria and burden of proof in a RICO case is very high for the government, and adherence to the various statute of limitations and proper gathering of evidence are critical to establishing a solid defensive case. An experienced criminal defense attorney can help establish the facts surrounding any accusations, and prepare a defense in your favor.


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If you have questions about this posting or are interested in Criminal Defense, Divorce, or Immigration Law in RI contact Rhode Island Criminal Defense Lawyer John E. MacDonald at 401-421-1440.

To learn more about The Law Office of John MacDonald, please visit his website at AggressiveLegalServices.com.