 " In the 1970s , federal prosecutors began to argue that RICO was applicable to corrupt state and local government bodies . " With the exception of program bribery , all of the aforementioned offenses are predicates for liability under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ( RICO ) . A state or local governmental unit may be named as part of the charged RICO " enterprise . " As Henderson wrote in 1977 , " if a governmental unit can be classified as an enterprise within the meaning of the statute , it could have great impact on the ability of prosecutors to reach political crimes . " 
