1/20/2024 0 Comments Rico charge explained![]() ![]() A narrative introduction allows prosecutors to tell a story that can include a lot of detailed information that might not relate to specific crimes but is relevant to the broader alleged scheme. Willis has said jurors want to know all the facts behind an alleged crime and that a RICO indictment enables prosecutors to provide a complete picture of all the alleged illegal activity. “I’m a fan of RICO,” Willis said during a news conference in August 2022 as she announced a RICO indictment against more than two dozen alleged gang members. But the Georgia Supreme Court has made clear there is no such requirement in the state law. Supreme Court has said that federal RICO allegations must show continuity, that is to say a series of related underlying acts over an extended period of time, not just a few weeks or months. READ MORE: Prosecutors start presenting 2020 Georgia election investigation to grand jury At least two such acts are required to meet the standard of a “pattern of racketeering activity,” meaning prosecutors have to prove that a person has engaged in two or more related criminal acts as part of their participation in an enterprise to be convicted under RICO. “Racketeering activity” means to commit, attempt to commit - or to solicit, coerce or intimidate someone else to commit - one of more than three dozen state crimes listed in the law. It’s important to note that the alleged scheme does not have to have been successful for a RICO charge to stick.Īn “enterprise” can be a single person or a group of associated individuals with a common goal. Georgia’s RICO Act, adopted in 1980, makes it a crime to participate in, acquire or maintain control of an “enterprise” through a “pattern of racketeering activity” or to conspire to do so. ![]() Generally speaking, RICO laws allow prosecutors to charge multiple people who commit separate crimes while working toward a common goal. Within a few years of the federal law taking effect, states began passing their own RICO laws. Supreme Court noted in a 1989 opinion that the law was drafted “broadly enough to encompass a wide range of criminal activity, taking many different forms and likely to attract a broad array of perpetrators.” The law enabled prosecutors to target people in positions of authority within a criminal organization, not just lower-level people doing the dirty work.īut its use was never meant to be limited exclusively to organized crime. The federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act originated in 1970 as a tool to fight organized crime. ![]() Here’s a look at how the law works: How would a law used against mobsters apply to Trump and his allies? Willis is widely expected to use Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, law to charge Trump and his associates for allegedly participating in a wide-ranging conspiracy to overturn the state’s 2020 election results. More than two years later, the indictment that could soon be brought by a grand jury could go far beyond that phone call, alleging a web of crimes committed by Trump and others. READ MORE: Who is Fani Willis, the Fulton County DA who has been investigating Trump? Trump suggested during the call that Raffensperger, a Republican and the state’s top elections official, could help “find” the votes needed to overturn his narrow loss to Democrat Joe Biden. ATLANTA (AP) - Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis opened her investigation into Donald Trump after the release of a recording of a January 2021 phone call between Trump and Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger. ![]()
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