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What is RICO charge
|Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group. We’re a second-generation law firm managed by Todd Spodek – with over 40 years of combined experience defending federal criminal cases. You’ve probably seen our work featured on the New York Post, Newsweek, and Bloomberg. Todd represented Anna Delvey in the case that became a Netflix series, handled the Ghislaine Maxwell juror misconduct matter that made national headlines, and defended clients in cases others called unwinnable. If you’re researching RICO charges, you need to understand what you’re facing – and why these charges are different from anything else in federal criminal law.
RICO isn’t just organized crime anymore. Federal prosecutors use the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act to connect crimes across months or years, turning separate incidents into a single conspiracy that carries decades in prison. Under 18 USC 1962, the government doesn’t need to prove you ran a mafia – they just need to prove you participated in an “enterprise” through a “pattern of racketeering activity.” That language is vague on purpose, it gives prosecutors enormous power.
What the Statute Actually Says
The RICO statute has four subsections. Section 1962(c) – the one prosecutors use most – makes it illegal to conduct an enterprise’s affairs through a pattern of racketeering. Section 1962(d) covers conspiracy to violate the other provisions.
That conspiracy charge matters. You don’t have to commit the underlying crimes yourself – just agree to participate in the enterprise. Prosecutors charge RICO conspiracy because it’s easier to prove.
An enterprise can be anything with structure and purpose. A corporation, a street gang, an informal group of people working together. According to DOJ policy, even a loose association counts as long as there’s some organizational framework. The enterprise doesn’t need legitimate activities.
The Pattern Requirement Changes Everything
Pattern of racketeering activity – that’s the phrase that makes RICO so dangerous. You need at least two predicate acts within ten years of each other. The law defines 35 separate offenses as racketeering activity, including murder, kidnapping, robbery, extortion, drug trafficking, gambling, arson, and critically – wire fraud and mail fraud.
Two acts of wire fraud committed three years apart, that’s a pattern. Two drug deals involving different people but the same organization, that’s a pattern. The predicate acts must be related through purposes, results, participants, victims, or methods – but prosecutors argue almost anything is related when it serves the same enterprise.
Wire fraud is on that list, which means nearly any scheme involving phones, email, or bank transfers can become a RICO predicate. That’s why federal prosecutors use RICO in cryptocurrency theft cases, securities fraud prosecutions, and financial crimes that have nothing to do with traditional organized crime.
How Prosecutors Actually Use RICO in 2025
Recent cases show how broad RICO has become. In May 2025, DOJ charged 12 defendants in a cryptocurrency theft RICO conspiracy involving over $263 million – Malone Lam allegedly stole more than 4,100 Bitcoin by hacking victims and breaking into homes to steal hardware wallets. The enterprise operated from October 2023 through March 2025.
In August 2025, federal prosecutors in Minneapolis charged members of the Lows street gang with RICO conspiracy for ten murders carried out through shootings in public spaces. Marques Armstrong Jr., Davant Moore, and Jahon Lynch face RICO charges alongside 11 other gang members – the indictment treats each shooting as a predicate act of murder.
Joseph LaForte, CEO of Par Funding, was sentenced in early 2025 to 186 months in prison for RICO conspiracy tied to securities fraud and tax crimes. The court ordered him to forfeit a private jet, investment accounts totaling $20 million, plus a $120 million forfeiture judgment and $314 million in restitution.
These cases have nothing in common except RICO. Cryptocurrency hackers, gang members committing street violence, white-collar executives defrauding investors – prosecutors use the same statute because it works. RICO turns separate criminal acts into pieces of a larger conspiracy, which means longer sentences and more pressure to cooperate.
Penalties Are Severe and Forfeiture Is Mandatory
RICO carries up to 20 years in federal prison per count. If the predicate acts include crimes with life sentences – like murder or certain drug trafficking offenses – you can get life under RICO. That’s separate from the sentences for the underlying predicate acts themselves, prosecutors stack charges.
Forfeiture is mandatory under 18 USC 1963. Any property derived from racketeering activity, any interest in the enterprise, anything used to commit or facilitate RICO violations – the government seizes it all. Real estate, vehicles, bank accounts, cryptocurrency, business interests. They take everything connected to the enterprise.
Federal sentencing guidelines calculate RICO sentences based on the underlying racketeering acts. If your predicate acts include multiple murders, drug conspiracies, and fraud schemes, the guideline range can exceed what the statutory maximum allows. Judges sentence at the statutory maximum in those cases, which often means 20 years or life.
Why RICO Cases Are Different
Normal federal prosecutions charge specific crimes – one drug deal, one fraud scheme, one robbery. RICO connects everything. That makes cooperation more valuable because cooperating witnesses can testify about the entire enterprise, not just one incident. It also means defendants face pressure to plead guilty early – fighting RICO at trial is expensive, and losing means decades added to your sentence.
RICO also allows prosecutors to bring everyone in an organization into a single case. The person who committed murders, the person who laundered money, the person who recruited members – they’re all part of the same conspiracy even if they never met each other. Joint trials with multiple defendants make it harder to present an individual defense.
All RICO prosecutions require DOJ approval before charges can be filed. That means federal prosecutors only bring RICO cases they believe they can win. When you see a RICO indictment, the government has already built its case.
What You Should Know If You’re Facing RICO Charges
RICO cases are built over months or years through wiretaps, cooperating witnesses, financial records, and surveillance. By the time you’re indicted, prosecutors have extensive evidence. These aren’t cases you fight without experienced federal defense counsel who understands how RICO works and how to challenge the government’s theory of the enterprise.
The pattern requirement is where defense strategies focus – showing the acts aren’t related, challenging whether an enterprise existed, arguing the defendant didn’t participate in conducting the enterprise’s affairs. But those defenses require detailed knowledge of RICO case law, and they’re fact-specific to your situation.
At Spodek Law Group – we’ve handled complex federal conspiracy cases involving multiple defendants, cooperating witnesses, and guideline calculations that threaten life sentences. Our team includes former federal prosecutors who understand how the government builds RICO cases and where vulnerabilities exist. Todd Spodek has defended clients in high-profile federal matters – from the Anna Delvey fraud prosecution that became a Netflix series to challenging evidence in the Ghislaine Maxwell juror issue.
RICO charges mean the government is treating your case as an ongoing criminal enterprise, not isolated criminal acts. That changes everything about how the case proceeds, what evidence matters, and what sentences you’re facing. If federal prosecutors have charged you or someone you know with RICO violations, you need defense counsel who handles these cases regularly and understands the stakes.