Defending Federal RICO Indictments
Battling the Government
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. § 1961–1968, enhances criminal penalties, and prescribes severe civil remedies, including treble damages, for individual or multiple criminal acts committed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. While it was intended to provide Federal law enforcement with a statutory tool with which to combat organized crime, such as the Mafia, increasingly Federal prosecutors have used its broad language to prosecute individuals for criminal acts unassociated with any criminal enterprise, ongoing or otherwise. If you have been indicted for violating the RICO statute, consider contacting us to defend you. We have been battling the government for more than twenty years.
Federal Prosecutors Abuse RICO Statute
Federal prosecutors typically indict individuals under the RICO statute for racketeering, money laundering, drug trafficking, securities fraud, bankruptcy fraud, Medicare fraud, embezzlement, counterfeiting, bribery, blackmail and acts of terrorism. And although to qualify as an indictable offense under RICO the individual must have committed two racketeering offenses within a reasonable time of one another, Federal prosecutors have liberally interpreted “two” to include minor, and even insignificant, “acts” in carrying out a single crime. The RICO statutes may be the most abused and misapplied Federal laws by the various U.S. Attorney’s Offices.
Punishment for RICO Convictions
Violation of the RICO statutes is punishable by fines or imprisonment for not more than 20 years (or for life if the violation is based on a racketeering activity for which the maximum penalty includes life imprisonment), or both. 18 U.S.C. § 1963.
Retain an Experienced Massachusetts Federal Defense Lawyer
RICO prosecutions are often highly complex, document intensive, and require a thorough understanding of the applicable Federal statutes and relevant case law, as well as the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. If you or a loved one is charged in Federal District Court with violation of RICO, contact Kevin J. Mahoney, a Cambridge Criminal Defense Lawyer, at 617-492-0055 to schedule a free in-office consultation.
