RICO Act
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, typically called RICO Act or RICO, is a United States federal law. The RICO Act is categorized as Chapter 96 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code. This act was formed on October 15, 1970 and signed into law by President Richard Nixon. The purpose of the law was to control organized crimes in the United States. Under this law, which deals with federal crimes and criminal procedures, it also permits prosecution and civil penalties for organized crime activities. This Act was designed and expected to be used against the Mafia but now it has included organized crimes. According the federal law, organized crime is defined as any activity or threat involving illegal gambling, money laundering, embezzlement,
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The person who had to pay for the crime was the defendant who actually performed the illegal activities as the law did not allow other people to be punished. When Congress passed the RICO Act in 1970, the prosecutors were able to have the fighting tool that enabled them to dismantle the organized crimes which were led by the mastermind. Prosecutors had to prove two illegal activities which will assist in bringing these leaders or masterminds to justice. The first was “The defendant must own and/or manage and organization; and the organization must regularly perform one or more specific illegal activity,” …show more content…
“On November 10, 2009, four creditors of a Miami, Florida, law firm of seventy attorneys, Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler P.A. (“RRA”), petitioned the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida to reorganize the law firm under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. Two weeks later, the Bankruptcy Court appointed Herbert Stettin trustee of the bankruptcy estate (the “Trustee”). On December 1, 2009, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida filed a five-count information charging Scott Rothstein, “a shareholder, Chairman and CEO of RRA,” with conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c), by employing RRA to engage in a pattern of racketeering activity, principally mail and wire fraud and money laundering, and with conspiring to commit those substantive offenses” 717 F.3d 1205, 1206-07 (11th Cir.
The person who had to pay for the crime was the defendant who actually performed the illegal activities as the law did not allow other people to be punished. When Congress passed the RICO Act in 1970, the prosecutors were able to have the fighting tool that enabled them to dismantle the organized crimes which were led by the mastermind. Prosecutors had to prove two illegal activities which will assist in bringing these leaders or masterminds to justice. The first was “The defendant must own and/or manage and organization; and the organization must regularly perform one or more specific illegal activity,” …show more content…
“On November 10, 2009, four creditors of a Miami, Florida, law firm of seventy attorneys, Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler P.A. (“RRA”), petitioned the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida to reorganize the law firm under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. Two weeks later, the Bankruptcy Court appointed Herbert Stettin trustee of the bankruptcy estate (the “Trustee”). On December 1, 2009, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida filed a five-count information charging Scott Rothstein, “a shareholder, Chairman and CEO of RRA,” with conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c), by employing RRA to engage in a pattern of racketeering activity, principally mail and wire fraud and money laundering, and with conspiring to commit those substantive offenses” 717 F.3d 1205, 1206-07 (11th Cir.