Organized Crime is a Charge that Southeast Michigan Prosecutors Use All of the Time

Michigan Continuing Criminal Enterprise Crimes

“The leading rule for the lawyer, as for the man of every calling, is diligence”
— Abraham Lincoln
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Michigan Continuing Criminal Enterprise Charges

In Michigan, a prosecutor can charge a person with being a member of an illegal business. This type of charge is very similar to a Federal RICO charge and carries with it serious prison time. These cases are very complex and not that common, so having a lawyer who has extensive experience in fighting organized crime and illegal business cases is vital to giving you a chance of winning.

What is a Continuing Criminal Enterprise?

According to MCL §750.159i, it is against the law for a person either employed by or otherwise associated with an enterprise to knowingly conduct or participate in the affairs of an enterprise directly or indirectly through a pattern of racketeering activity. Although this is a complex crime, the above sentence should be broken down to see what constitutes a Michigan RICO charge.

A Michigan Criminal Enterprise

An enterprise can be many things in Michigan for purposes of Criminal Enterprise charge. MCL §750.159f tells us that an enterprise could be an individual, a partnership, a company, governmental unit, or a group of people associated in fact. This definition is extremely broad and effectively makes just about anything an enterprise. There is fertile ground for a challenge to the enterprise definition as it may be to overbroad and vague to be enforceable in certain circumstances.

A Pattern of Racketeering Activity

The key part of any illegal enterprise case is whether there is racketeering activity involved. In Michigan, the law provides many different examples of crimes that are considered racketeering activities. For example, drug dealing is a racketeering activity. So is Medicaid fraud. To be a pattern of racketeering, it must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that at least two racketeering acts occur that have the same or substantially similar purpose, the incidents amount to a threat of continued criminal activity, and at least one of the acts took place within ten years of the other acts.

Fighting Michigan Illegal Enterprise Charges

We have more experience than most at handling organized crime cases, both at the State and Federal level. There are many ways to defend these cases, starting with an aggressive challenge to the Michigan RICO laws. Because Michigan prosecutors infrequently prosecute illegal enterprise cases, we have a major upper hand in cutting edge arguments that can destroy their cases. Also, because we are so experienced in handling monster RICO cases, doing a Michigan RICO case does not intimidate us one bit. These are cases that require the best Michigan criminal enterprise lawyers, and we are ready to take your case and win it.