Rico Act Essay
The RICO Act has been an important component in addressing organized and white collar crime. Write a five page (double-spaced) essay that summarizes the RICO Act and its impact on organized and white collar crime. Be sure to support your thoughts with information from our readings.
Rico Act Essay
The term “Rico Act” stands for the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, Codified as chapter 96, Title 18, of the United States Code which was passed by Congress in 1970. The purpose of the Act was to eliminate the ill-affects of organized crime on the nation’s economy. The Rico Act provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. 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 in doing. It closed a perceived loophole that allowed someone who told a man to commit a crime such as murder, to be exempt from the trial because they did not actually do it or were physically involved.
Racketeering is defined as the process of forming or running an organization to operate or commit or otherwise execute ongoing criminal activities. For example the drug mafia planning and executing drug traffic in an organized manner. Such crimes are generally illegitimate business when a person commits crimes such as extortion, loan-sharking, bribery, and obstruction of justice in furtherance of illegal business activities.
The definition of a “racketeering activity” means any act or threat involving murder, kidnapping, gambling, arson, robbery, bribery, extortion, dealing in obscene matter, or dealing in a controlled substance or listed chemical (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act), which is chargeable under State law and punishable by imprisonment for more than one year.
There are a number of illegal and prohibited activities listed in the
Rico Act Essay
The term “Rico Act” stands for the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, Codified as chapter 96, Title 18, of the United States Code which was passed by Congress in 1970. The purpose of the Act was to eliminate the ill-affects of organized crime on the nation’s economy. The Rico Act provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. 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 in doing. It closed a perceived loophole that allowed someone who told a man to commit a crime such as murder, to be exempt from the trial because they did not actually do it or were physically involved.
Racketeering is defined as the process of forming or running an organization to operate or commit or otherwise execute ongoing criminal activities. For example the drug mafia planning and executing drug traffic in an organized manner. Such crimes are generally illegitimate business when a person commits crimes such as extortion, loan-sharking, bribery, and obstruction of justice in furtherance of illegal business activities.
The definition of a “racketeering activity” means any act or threat involving murder, kidnapping, gambling, arson, robbery, bribery, extortion, dealing in obscene matter, or dealing in a controlled substance or listed chemical (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act), which is chargeable under State law and punishable by imprisonment for more than one year.
There are a number of illegal and prohibited activities listed in the
References: www.ricoact.com/ricoact/nutshell.asp RICO - What Happened Next . . . - Crime, Family, Mafia, Families, Organized, and American http://law.jrank.org/pages/12394/RICO-What-happened-next.html#ixzz1XrNLl9Gg http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangster_outlaws/family_epics/gambino/3.html www.justice.gc.ca/eng/pi/rs/rep-rap/2005/rr05_5/p5.html. Osterburg and Ward., Criminal Investigations, A Method for Reconstructing the Past., 5th edition., Anderson Publishing 2007.