A Federal RICO Enterprise Can Be Many Different Things
What is a Federal RICO Enterprise?
“Friendship is everything. Friendship is more than talent. It is more than the government. It is almost the equal of family.”
Federal RICO Enterprise
According to federal law, a federal RICO enterprise is defined as is any group of individuals who associate with each other for a common purpose. It does not need to be a formal business entity such as a corporation, but may be merely an informal association of people. As far as an association of people is concerned, the Government must prove that this association was ongoing, that the members or associates worked as a continuing unit to achieve a common purpose, and the enterprise was separate and apart from the pattern of racketeering activity that the Government alleges it engaged in.
Street Gangs are a Primary Example of an Illegal Enterprise
Viewing this above, in Detroit for example, street gangs are generally prosecuted as illegal enterprises, even though they very rarely have any structure. There is no requirement that the enterprise have any command structure, nor is there a rule that there has to be fixed rules within the enterprise. The alleged illegal group does not have to have a name, conduct meetings, nor have any initiation requirements.
Challenging Whether Something is an Enterprise is an Important Defense to RICO
Given the above discussion, a federal RICO enterprise could in theory be almost anything. Even so, there are numerous defenses in challenging whether something is an enterprise, such as alleging multiple enterprises and that the racketeering crimes were separate from the purposes of the enterprise. No matter what, if you are charged with a RICO, you need lawyers that handle federal racketeering cases, so call us today.