How Does Racketeering Work?

the drug trade nationwide. The Godfather is fiction, but that scene is reminiscent of real world criminal conspiracies hatched by mob bosses like John the Teflon, Don Gotti and Anthony Tony Duck's Corralo. These types of backroom deals were the bread and butter of the mob business model for decades. The cops and FBI might nab some lower level operatives for murder, bribery, or extortion, but the bosses at the

top were able to keep their hands clean. Gatty's business card said he was a salesman for a plumbing contractor, and since prosecutors couldn't connect him or other mafia dons, directly to specific crimes. The biggest criminals were seemingly untouchable. Then came the RICO Act of nineteen seventy, otherwise known as the Racketeer, Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. RICO gave the fed's new power to indict mob kingpins for various

rackets or crimes committed by their underlings. Before the article this episode is based on House to Works. Spoke with Jeffrey Grell, an attorney and adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota Law School who specializes in RICO law. He said the philosophy behind RICO was to get the Vita cor Leones of the world. RICO goes into that conference room where you've got a bunch of people who never get their hands sturdy, who aren't out dealing drugs, murdering people,

or engaging in any criminal activity directly. Those are the people that RICO is designed to get, the people who

engage others to engage in rack tearing. A racket is any organized criminal scheme like, for example, the twentieth century mob rackets of prostitution, gambling, illegal lotteries run running during Prohibition, and the protection racket in which the mob offers businesses paid protection from criminal gangs, notably themselves, But as defined by RICO, racketeering is whenever an individual operates or manages an enterprise through a pattern or series of racketeering activities.

The alleged racketeer does not have to commit any of the crimes themselves or even know about the crimes, which can include everything from kidnapping to wire fraud to biological weapons. A Contrary to popular belief, RICO cases aren't easier to prosecute than regular criminal cases, and Hollywood depictions often get it wrong, though Grell said that the RICO episode of Better Call Saul pretty much nailed it. Although the language of RICO is broad, the Supreme Court and federal appeal,

those courts have narrowed its application. As a consequence, the U. S Department of Justice very rarely pursues racketeering charges. Grell said that most of the time, people who commit crimes are out there committing the crimes. They're dealing drugs, they're murdering people. Why would the Feds use RICO when they can just charge them with the underlying crime. The DJ only uses RICO when there's really no other alternative, like

with John Gotti. To make a racketeering charge stick, you first need to prove that a pattern of related criminal activity took place, whether it was murder, extortion, drug dealing, or some other racket. Again, you don't have to prove that Gouty himself pulled the trigger or ordered the hit, but that someone in the enterprise did the second, and most importantly, you need to prove that Gotti or any

other alleged racketeer operated or managed the enterprise. Grell points out that under RICO law, the enterprise or organization itself isn't on trial for racketeering, but rather the individuals in charge, defined as those who quote exercise discretionary authority on behalf

of the enterprise. If an individual associated with an enterprise simply follows orders and exercises no discretion in carrying out their duties, most courts agree that such low level associates cannot be held liable under RICO, but there are also civil Rico suits. The original Rico Act contained a provision allowing civil lawsuits in which plaintiffs could collect triple damages if they were injured by a RICO violation. In the nineteen eighties that led to a wave of civil reco claims,

some of which had flimsy legal rounding. This led to tighter restrictions on civil rico suits, including a four year statute of limitations. In recent years, some of the biggest scandals in the news cycle have also been the subject of civil racketeering lawsuits, including the Catholic Church sexual abuse

scandal and the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal. In that example, in addition into filing individual sexual harassment lawsuits against this media mogul, lawyers for the victims have also filed a civil reco case allegingd that Weinstein and his enablers operated a criminal organization that the lawyers are referring to as the Weinstein Sexual Enterprise. If the allegation sticks, then Weinstein and his associates could owe triple damages to their victims

under civil racketeering law. Here are a few more traditional rico suits from recent years. In there was the Atlanta cheating scandal. Eleven teachers and administrators from Atlanta, Georgia's schools were convicted of racketeering, and not because they were ordering hits on the lunch lady or running a speakeasy in the faculty lounge, but because they had conspired to cheat on their students standardized tests, and schools that performed better

on the tests got more money from the government. So these ringleaders created a system that rewarded teachers for correcting their students answers and punished those who refused to play ball. That same year, the soccer world was rocked by the indictment of nine prominent officials from FIFA, the sports international governing body, on racketeering charges. The Department of Justice alleged that since nineteen ninety one, the men had run a kick back scheme. The used bribery to secure the rights

to certain FIFA events, including the World Cup. As of this writing, only two of the accused have been convicted of criminal racketeering conspiracy, a charge the caries of to

twenty years in prison. Then there's the opioid crisis. You may know that a number of pharmaceutical companies have been targeted for their role in worsening the deadly opioid epidemic in the US, but five executives at Insist Therapeutics were convicted of engineering a scheme to bribe doctors to prescribe their fentinel based mouth spray even when it wasn't medically necessary.

The charge was racketeering because the executives didn't pay the bribes themselves, but helped organize phony speaker programs in which doctors were recruited and paid off. Grel said, rico is a good tool when you're working with large groups, like a drug dealing enterprise or corporation. If you substitute that room full of mafioso's with the board of directors for

any corporation, it's the same thing. Today's episode is based on the article Racketeering Isn't just a crime for mobsters on how stuff works dot Com, written by Dave Rouges. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot Com, and it is produced by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.