08/15/2023

Understanding What 'RICO' Is

The RICO Act was passed to battle organized crime

Criminal charges filed against former President Donald Trump in Georgia state court include allegations that he violated an anti-organized crime law known as RICO that is more expansive than its federal counterpart.

What is RICO?

In 1970, U.S. lawmakers passed the federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act to battle organized crime, notably the mafia. Most states enacted similar laws with various twists.

The main requirements under the federal RICO law are at least two underlying crimes and participation in a criminal enterprise over a long period of time. Georgia's RICO law does not require criminal enterprises to be long running and lists nearly 50 underlying crimes that qualify as racketeering, compared with 35 under its federal counterpart.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Reuters.