Federal RICO & Racketeering Defense

A federal RICO case is rarely built around a single event. Investigators may spend months or years assembling allegations involving multiple people, an alleged enterprise, and a series of crimes they contend form a pattern of racketeering activity.

A RICO indictment can combine conduct by different people, at different times and places, into one federal prosecution. The defense has to separate the government’s broad narrative from the evidence it can actually prove against the individual client.

Bedi & Singer represents clients in federal racketeering matters around the country. RICO is a recurring part of Bedi & Singer’s federal criminal practice.

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) is codified at 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-1968. Section 1962(c) makes it unlawful for a person associated with an enterprise affecting interstate or foreign commerce to conduct or participate in the enterprise’s affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity or collection of unlawful debt. Section 1962(d) separately prohibits conspiring to violate the substantive RICO provisions.

A RICO case requires more than association with people who committed crimes. The government must prove the enterprise, the defendant’s relationship to it, the pattern of racketeering activity, and the defendant’s participation or agreement under the theory charged. The predicate acts can include violence, drug trafficking, fraud, extortion, bribery, obstruction, money laundering, or other crimes listed in the statute.

A RICO conspiracy charge may focus on an alleged agreement rather than requiring every defendant to have committed every act in the indictment. The government still must prove the conspiracy as to the individual defendant.

RICO lets prosecutors present conduct that might otherwise be separate cases as one alleged enterprise, which can mean many defendants, long time periods, and evidence that does not relate equally to everyone charged.

The evidence often includes:

• Wiretaps, recorded calls, text messages, and social media
• Cooperating witnesses and confidential informants
• Seized phones, computers, firearms, or documents
• Banking, surveillance, and location records
• Evidence from state or local investigations
• Statements or conduct attributed to co-defendants

Volume is not proof. The defense may turn on questions like these:

• What evidence actually relates to the client?
• What did the client agree to, and know about the alleged enterprise?
• Has the government proved the enterprise, the pattern, and each predicate act?
• Do communications mean what prosecutors say they mean?
• Are witnesses attributing a larger group’s conduct to someone whose role was more limited?
• Was the evidence obtained lawfully?

A RICO conviction can carry a substantial prison sentence. Federal law also provides for forfeiture of certain interests, property, or proceeds connected to the violation.

Exposure depends on the counts, predicate acts, sentencing issues, and facts. Those stakes call for a precise assessment of plea proposals, trial risk, and the strength of the government’s evidence, not general assumptions about a large indictment.

Bedi & Singer frequently represents people charged in RICO cases around the country.

Jonathan Bedi and Dena Singer both take part in case strategy, with associates contributing where appropriate. Clients hear directly about the evidence, their options, and the consequences of each decision.