what is racketeering 
the term racketeering broadly refers to criminal acts typically those involving extortion that involve a racket a racket being some sort of scheme organized to extract illegal profits it is usually used in reference to patterns of illegal activity specified in the racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations act rico this is a u s federal law that makes it illegal to acquire or control a business through certain crimes or income from those crimes it is also illegal to participate even indirectly in certain crimes committed by a business or to conspire to do any of the above under the act the list of federal crimes specified in rico includes bribery fraud gambling offenses money laundering financial and economic crimes obstructing justice or a criminal investigation and murder for hire at the state level racketeering can include crimes such as murder kidnapping gambling arson robbery bribery extortion dealing in obscene matters and drug crimes as long as they align with the generic definition of the state offense referenced at the time rico was enacted 1understanding racketeeringorganized groups may operate illegal businesses known as rackets an organized group may also divert funds from a legal business to use for illegal activities rackets primarily functioned in obviously illegal industries such as prostitution human trafficking drug trafficking illegal weapons trade or counterfeiting racketeering can take many forms including labor unions have also been a frequent target of racketeering allegations organized crime groups generally use one or more labor unions to extort money from a company or contractor s in other cases groups use unions to control workers the italian american mafia criminal society la cosa nostra was famous for its control over labor unions la cosa nostra gained such a strong foothold that both company management and the labor union had to rely on the gangsters for protection 2to contain illegal collusion and profiteering through racketeering the u s government introduced the racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations rico act in october 1970 3 the law permits enforcement agencies to charge individuals or groups involved in various acts of racketeering individuals guilty of committing rico crimes may be prosecuted and if found guilty can face a 20 year prison sentence or more for serious crimes fines and other penalties may also apply 4special considerationscorporations may also engage in racketeering for instance a drug manufacturer may bribe doctors to overprescribe a medicine thus committing fraud in order to boost their profits predatory lending may also be deemed a form of racketeering this happens when a lender tricks a borrower into taking a loan that deliberately ignores or actively hinders their ability to repay it an official personal loan is always safer than anything a loan shark may offer you even if you have bad credit for instance automobile insurer state farm was accused of illegally funding judge lloyd karmeier s 2004 election campaign by channeling money through advocacy groups that didn t disclose donors the case relates to long running litigation by state farm customers who alleged that they were given generic substandard car parts instead of original equipment for more than a decade 5the plaintiffs sought damages worth 1 billion plus 1 8 billion in interest in addition to the damages that could have been tripled under the federal rico act 6 the total damages sought neared 8 5 billion 7 in september 2018 state farm agreed to pay 250 million to settle the racketeering case just before opening statements were set to begin 8the racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations rico actthe department of justice doj provides an expansive view on rico charges according to the doj in order to be found guilty of violating the rico statute the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that government prosecutors primarily used the act to target organized crime and criminal organizations when it was enacted before the law was in place prosecutors were forced to try mob related racketeering crimes individually even though a large number of individuals may have been involved in the commission of a crime rico allows law enforcement officials to file cases against an entire racket the law allows prosecutors to seize the assets of an indicted party thereby preventing the transfer of funds and property through shell companies 9providing more tools to law enforcement agencies to combat racketeering the law allows prosecutors to charge organizations or individuals for up to 20 years of ongoing criminal activity for each count of racketeering the law also allows prosecutors to charge organization leaders for crimes that they ordered others to commit 10 federal and state prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt the extent of any crimes committed and the involvement of those involved in order to apply them to the rico act when charges are filed rico stands for racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations a law that was passed by the united states government in october 1970 