R.I.C.O

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was to curb the apparently increasing entry of organized crime into the legitimate business world. (Miller and Jentz 1998).
G.R. Blakley (1980) who helped draft RICO, takes the position that while broad usage may or may not have been Congress’ intent (he believes it was), certainly it was his. RICO was not created to apply “only to organized crime in the classic ‘mobster’ sense”. In it’s deliberations Congress recognized that it would be difficult if not constitutionally impossible to narrowly limit RICO to traditional crime such as the La Cosa Nostra (mafia). If persons or enterprises were involved in the same types of activities as traditional organized crime families, why should they not be prosecuted similarly (Greek 1991)?
The situation was further complicated by the fact that organized crime often infiltrated legitimate business either to launder their illegal monies or as fronts to formulate additional criminal schemes (with or without the knowledge/consent of the business’ ...

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between the pattern of racketeering activities and the enterprise can represent a form of Catch 22. An enterprise can be either illegitimate or legitimate, making it possible for a legitimate business to be subject to forfeiture because its owner has committed a crime in the course of its operation. The enterprise can be defined solely by reference to the pattern crimes themselves. Lynch (1987) concludes from such cases that simply a pattern of racketeering activities is the enterprise and that RICO is best categorized as “the crime of being a criminal”.
Under Title 18 section 1963 & 1964 of the United States Code RICO took aim to eliminate organized crime by concentrating on illegal ...

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