The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a 1970 US federal law, codified at 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-1968, designed to dismantle organized crime by targeting the leaders of criminal enterprises rather than just low-level participants. It allows for prosecution of a “pattern of racketeering activity” (at least two predicate acts within 10 years), with penalties up to 20 years in prison per count, massive fines, and forfeiture of assets. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Key Aspects of the RICO Act:

• Purpose: Enacted to combat the Mafia and organized crime, it allows prosecutors to charge multiple people for crimes they ordered or managed as part of an organization, even if they did not commit them directly.
• Components: To prove a RICO violation, the government must show the existence of an “enterprise” (a group of people or a legal entity) that affected interstate commerce and engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity.
• Predicate Acts: The Act covers 35 specific federal and state offenses, including bribery, money laundering, extortion, murder, drug dealing, and fraud.
• Civil RICO: The law also permits private individuals harmed by a RICO-violating organization to sue for damages.
• Application: While aimed at the Mafia, RICO is now used against various criminal organizations, gangs, and sometimes legitimate businesses involved in corrupt activity. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

The law was largely developed by the US Department of Justice as part of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970. [1, 2, 3]