Understanding New York Penal Law § 460.22: Aggravated Enterprise Corruption

New York Penal Law § 460.22: Aggravated Enterprise Corruption is a serious charge, it can land you in prison for a long time, plus it can ruin your livelihood if the government has its way because they always try to screw you by painting you as a ringleader in a criminal enterprise.

How Prosecutors Inflate Charges

Look, many prosecutors jump at the chance to lump you in with alleged mobsters or big syndicated operations, so they inflate the accusations, they say you orchestrated a pattern of criminal activity under N.Y. Penal Law § 460.10, and then they tack on the aggravated version to hammer you with more penalties.

Real Case Example

I have seen cases like People v. Besser, 96 N.Y.2d 136, where the court analyzed the structural elements of an enterprise, and some defendants faced draconian sentences because the government claimed that multiple offenses were part of one grand scheme, so the top count was enterprise corruption which can lead to stiff punishment.

One Slip Can Lead to a Broad Indictment

When you face an aggravated enterprise corruption charge, you might not know that a single slip, such as an alleged conspiracy to commit larceny, could link to a broader indictment under CPL § 200.50, which means the prosecutor lumps everything into one big enterprise so they can throw the book at you, it is terrifying.

Dismantling the Alleged Enterprise Structure

There is a critical defense strategy that revolves around dismantling the alleged structure of the enterprise itself, if we show that the defendants had no shared purpose or continuity, the prosecution’s house of cards may crumble, and that approach often references People v. Western Express Intl., Inc., 19 N.Y.3d 652, because the Court emphasized you must prove an ongoing organization beyond random acts.

Challenging the Predicate Offenses

Another defense tactic focuses on challenging the predicate offenses, for example, you can argue that the supposed underlying crimes never satisfied the elements of N.Y. Penal Law § 155.05 if they involve theft, or N.Y. Penal Law § 190.65 if they involve fraud, so picking apart the base charges weakens the entire enterprise case, we sometimes bring motions under CPL § 210.20 to dismiss insufficient counts before the trial starts.

Procedural Attacks

We also fight the government on procedural grounds, because if the grand jury presentation is flawed under CPL § 190.25 or the indictment lacks specific factual allegations under CPL § 200.30, we file a motion to quash the indictment, we push to have the entire case sent back for re-presentment or tossed altogether, we do not let the prosecution bend the rules to corner you.

Severing Counts to Protect You

Sometimes we even use a severance approach so the jury does not hear about unrelated offenses all at once, we argue under CPL § 200.40 that combining certain counts prejudices you, we want separate trials so each alleged act stands on its own, the government hates this because they want to bury you in a big scary conspiracy narrative to get the harshest sentence.

Why Todd Spodek’s Team Matters

Spodek Law Group, led by Todd Spodek, stands against this prosecutorial overreach, we handle these aggravated enterprise corruption battles in both New York and Los Angeles, we also maintain a digital portal where our clients track all court filings and upload documents, Todd appeared on a Netflix series in 2022 for representing Anna Delvey, and he is a second-generation attorney who learned from his father how to protect clients from government abuse, we only take on cases we truly believe we can help with, and we maintain a white glove standard of care.

Contact Us Before Time Runs Out

You should reach out within days of learning about your grand jury summons or indictment, courts set tight deadlines for filing motions under CPL § 255.20, so do not wait, if you let the government get a head start, they will exploit every advantage, we stand ready to file the papers, build your case, and put you in control of your defense, contact us immediately for a consultation, this is not legal advice, it is just general guidance.