Top Federal Criminal Lawyer Michael Leonard explains use of RICO for gang prosecutions. Increasingly, particularly within the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago), federal prosecutors have been utilizing the Federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (“RICO”) statue to prosecute gangs/gang members. Indeed, over the past several years alone, there have been a great number of such prosecutions. We briefly address how and why the use of RICO to prosecute gangs/gang members has evolved.
As an initial matter, RICO was intended to allow for prosecution of organized crime. It was enacted in 1970. RICO allows federal prosecutors to charged individuals who are allegedly part of what the statute calls a “criminal enterprises.” The RICO law can be found at 18 U.S.C.A. § 1961. This made it much easier to prosecute organized crime. Once federal prosecutors were able to prove such an “enterprise,” they could then charge a great number of individuals who carried out some part of the enterprise. Those individuals could be then held responsible for the acts of others within the enterprise. An enterprise has been roughly defined by the courts as
a group of persons associated together for a common purpose of engaging in a course of conduct, which has some sort of ongoing organization or structure – and the structure must be different than the underlying criminal conduct itself.
With regard to street gangs, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that it is sufficient for federal prosecutors to prove beyond a reasonable doubt “some structure, to distinguish an enterprise from a mere conspiracy, but there need not be much.’” Federal prosecutors must further prove beyond a reasonable doubt a “pattern of racketeering activity,” meaning “a series of criminal acts as defined by the statute.”
Federal prosecutors in Chicago successfully used RICO to prosecute a number of members of the “Hobos” street gang in 2017. The evidence in that prosecution included murders, kidnappings, robberies, and attempted murders.
The gang structure makes the use of RICO by federal prosecutors to be attractive. That is because many gangs have, and have had in place for years or decades, a defined and discernible hierarchy and structure, including in many instances clearly defined and carried out rules or processes – including with respect to such things as membership, duties, and discipline.
However, federal RICO prosecutions can in fact be defended against, including in the first instance attacking the lack of real actual enterprise. Of course, the lack of evidence supporting the alleged commission of the underlying predicate acts/crimes can also be vigorously contested.
A defendant charged with violations of RICO should select defense counsel with substantial federal jury trial experience – including a track record of actually obtaining not guilty jury verdicts in some of those cases. Because at any federal criminal trial, defense counsel must develop and carry out a theme for trial and have the skills to deftly cross-examine a wide variety, including cooperators, alleged eyewitnesses and fact witnesses, expert witnesses, and members of law enforcement.
The lawyers at Leonard Trial Lawyers possess such experience and track record.
Michael Leonard
Leonard Trial Lawyers
December 10, 2023