The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly referred to as the RICO Act or simply RICO, is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization.

Under RICO, a person who is a member of an enterprise that has committed any two of 35 crimes — 27 federal crimes and 8 state crimes — within a 10-year period can be charged with racketeering.

Most nations do cooperate with the US on RICO enforcement only where their own related laws are specifically broken, but this is in line with the Interpol protocols for such matters.

On the other hand, RICO merely requires " knowing ", that is, recklessness.

After completing his work on the HSCA, Blakey went on to become the William J. and Dorothy K. O ' Neill Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame, and is considered the foremost expert on the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ( RICO ).

When one of Nick's informants witnesses firsthand the assassination of Uncle Benny at the hands of Bobby under authorization from Henry, he alerts Nick who then alerts the District Attorney because she is looking to indict the Tongs under the RICO Act.

Siegelman was represented by Mobile attorneys Vince Kilborn and David McDonald, along with Greenwood attorney Hiram Eastland and Notre Dame law professor G. Robert Blakey, who is an authority on RICO.

A federal class-action lawsuit is pending against Kirby under the civil action provisions of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ( RICO ), for allegedly selling used vacuums as new ; the complaint alleges that " Not only is Kirby aware of this practice, it " participates in the scheme by, among other things, selling to its distributors duplicate or replacement ' Original Purchaser's Registration ' cards to be given to secondhand purchasers.

In June 2006, the American Chiropractic Association filed a national class action lawsuit against the American Chiropractic Network ( ACN ), which is owned by UnitedHealth Group and administers chiropractic benefits, and against UnitedHealth Group itself, for alleged practices in violation of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ( RICO ).

1986-Corallo is convicted of RICO charges, along with top mobsters of the Genovese, Gambino, and Colombo families, and sentenced to life in prison.

When the RICO suit was announced, TDU National Organizer Ken Paff wrote the United States Attorney General saying “ there is only one ‘ reorganization ’ under RICO that the government can effectively take: namely, to direct the IBT to hold rank-and-file elections ”.

Section 1961 ( 10 ) of Title 18 provides that the Attorney General of the United States may designate any department or agency to conduct investigations authorized by the RICO statute and such department or agency may use the investigative provisions of the statute or the investigative power of such department or agency otherwise conferred by law.

* Criminal RICO: 18 U. S. C.

For his role in The Order's crimes, Lane was sentenced to consecutive sentences totaling 190 years, including 20 years for racketeering, 20 years for conspiracy, both under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ( RICO ), and 150 years for violating the civil rights of Alan Berg, a Jewish radio talk show host, who was murdered on June 18, 1984.

* June 18, 2007-Aided by RICO, the " Operation Family Secrets " trial began in Chicago.

In 1979, the United States federal government went after Sonny Barger and several members and associates of the Oakland charter of the Hells Angels using RICO.

In United States v. 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.

About June 1984, the Key West Police Department located in the County of Monroe, Florida, was declared a criminal enterprise under the federal RICO statutes after a lengthy United States Department of Justice investigation.

The police are handicapped, however, by Japan's lack of an equivalent to plea bargaining, witness protection, or the United States ' RICO Act.

* Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ( RICO ), a United States law targeting organized crime

According to a 2004 U. S. Government Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ( RICO ) indictment, between 1990 and 2004, the Norte del Valle cartel exported more than 1. 2 million pounds – or 500 metric tons – of cocaine worth in excess of $ 10 billion from Colombia to Mexico and ultimately to the United States for resale.

Using evidence obtained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, eleven organized crime figures, including the heads of New York's so-called " Five Families ," were indicted by United States Attorney Rudolph Giuliani under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ( RICO ) on charges including extortion, labor racketeering, and murder for hire.

In 1988, the United States Department of Justice prosecuted the union under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ( RICO ).

§§ 1961 – 1968 ), commonly referred to as the " RICO Act ", became United States law.

* RICO Act from Cornell University's U. S. Code database

When the U. S. Attorney decides to indict someone under RICO, he or she has the option of seeking a pre-trial restraining order or injunction to temporarily seize a defendant's assets and prevent the transfer of potentially forfeitable property, as well as require the defendant to put up a performance bond.

RICO laws were successfully cited in NOW v. Scheidler, 510 U. S. 249, 114 S. Ct. 798, 127 L. Ed.

In 2005, the U. S. Department of Justice's Operation Family Secrets indicted 15 Outfit members and associates under RICO predicates.

A 50-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Tampa charged the defendants under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ( RICO ) with operating a racketeering enterprise from 1984 that engaged in violent activities, as well as: conspiracy within the U. S. to kill and maim persons abroad, conspiracy to provide material support and resources to PIJ, conspiracy to violate emergency economic sanctions, engaging in various acts of interstate extortion, perjury, obstruction of justice, and immigration fraud.

Almost 7 years later, on August 17, 2006 U. S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler found that the Government had proven its case and that the tobacco company defendants had violated the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act ( RICO ).

The U. S also wanted to prosecute Osama bin Laden in his absence under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ( RICO ).

The case was based on an investigation called Operation Gangplank and was one of the first built on the RICO Act by the U. S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia.

On April 25, 2005, the U. S. Department of Justice launched Operation Family Secrets, which indicted 14 Outfit members and associates under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ( RICO ).

25, 2005-The U. S. Department of Justice's Operation Family Secrets trial indicted 15 Outfit top mobsters and associates under the RICO Act.

Drexel management immediately began plea bargain talks, concluding that no financial institution could survive a RICO indictment.

This was one of the first times RICO was used against an individual with no ties to organized crime.

The RICO Act focuses specifically on racketeering, and it allows for the leaders of a syndicate to be tried for the crimes which they ordered others to do or assisted them, closing a perceived loophole that allowed someone who told a man to, for example, murder, to be exempt from the trial because he did not actually do it.

G. Robert Blakey remains an expert on RICO ; his former student Michael Goldsmith also gained a reputation as one of the nation's leading RICO experts.

" RICO also permits a private individual harmed by the actions of such an enterprise to file a civil suit ; if successful, the individual can collect treble damages.

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.

A civil RICO action, like many lawsuits based on federal law, can be filed in state or federal court.

Although some of the RICO predicate acts are extortion and blackmail, one of the most successful applications of the RICO laws has been the ability to indict or sanction individuals for their behavior and actions committed against witnesses and victims in alleged retaliation or retribution for cooperating with federal law enforcement or intelligence agencies.

Violations of the RICO laws can be alleged in civil lawsuit cases or for criminal charges.

RICO could be alleged if it can be shown that lawyers and / or their clients conspired and collaborated to concoct fictitious legal complaints solely in retribution and retaliation for themselves having been brought before the courts.

The CCE laws target only traffickers who are responsible for long-term and elaborate conspiracies ; whereas the RICO law can be charged for a variety of organized criminal behavior.