rico

RICO was part of a package known as the Organized Crime
Control Act of 1970 and was proposed by Notre Dame University
Law School Professor, Robert Blakey. The same concept was
put forth decades earlier in the 1930's by Tom Dewey. It is
worthy to note that Mr. Blakey was an aid to Robert Kennedy
and wrote the RICO law as a fitting tribute to Kennedy's
hatred of the so called "Mafia" who also happened to be
his father's Italian American partners in crime. Huh, go figure!

 A pattern of racketeering is two or more violations within 
a ten year period of state and federal laws. This means be
careful next time someone at works asks you to engage in 
the next football pool or after hours Bingo.


 RICO changed the focus from prosecuting individual criminals
 to prosecuting individuals who committed crimes which benefited
 "corrupt" organizations -such as crime families.
RICO, a powerful tool for the government and a threat to our civil
rights.  Civil Liberties groups and Coalitions were vehemently opposed
to the concept of RICO as a flagrant violation of the Constitution
and our 1st amendment rights.

Defining Racketeering is "iffy" at best.  
RICO is based on two concepts: Racketeering and establishing
a "criminal enterprise"  A criminal enterprise was any group
"associated in fact" whose members committed crimes for group
purposes. A racketeering pattern was two or more violations of 
state and federal laws regarding murder, kidnapping, hijacking, 
extortion, fraud and several other crimes. Putting it in layman's
terms, if you are convicted of a crime and you choose to socialize
with other people also convicted of crime, regardless of how many
years spent in jail, the two of you can be sent back to jail for 
being seen in the same place together.  This is why the FBI are 
 seen frequenting restaurants, nightclubs  weddings and even funerals
where they may "suspect" mobsters are hanging out.  A violation
of rights?  YOU be the judge.

It's intent to protect legitimate business from illegal
infiltration by Organized Crime wanting to take over through
the use of extortion to use as fronts for illegal activity.
Unfortunately the Justice Department and FBI took this to 
mean an ease on wiretapping and electronic  surveillance 
restrictions.

  By seizing assets the FBI and other Justice
Department agencies have enabled themselves to act at their 
own discretion and of course to their own gain. Don't think 
it doesn't happen. They can pad their own pocketbooks and 
add to their so-called government budgets using their own 
resources. Now you tell me who is running an Organized Crime
operation? 

FORFEITURE includes seizure of EVERYTHING! If you marry someone
and they are implicated in a RICO sting YOU could lose everything
YOU have.  AND it happens.

If the prosecution wants to accuse someone of being 
a "boss" "capo" during a bail hearing to prejudice a case
they can do so. This is what happened to John A. Gotti, John 
Gotti's son who was recently sentenced to 77 months.
The prosecution called him the "acting boss"
and when it was and is advantagous in other cases can 
and did refer to others, such as Nicholas Corozzo to obtain
a conviction during his 1996 and '97 indictments. Even
IHOP can distinguish their employees of the month. 

This reminds me of children on the playground being 
confronted by a teacher after a misdeed.  "He Did it!"
"No, She did it!" That is what RICO has reduced the FBI
and Justice Department to. Desperate, finger pointing, "can't
wait till this high profile case is over and I can write
a book about it", GQ wannabees!

Over the past 16 years several FBI agents have used extortion, taking
bribes, even dealing in narcotics through connections made as an
Federal Agent. When a former FBI agent is released from Prison is 
he/she allowed to socialize with other FBI agents?    

 Jerome Sullivan, the wayward FBI agent who
had put in 25 years of service to Uncle Sam also developed
a gambling problem.  A gambling problem to the tune of 
$400,000.00! Place your bets!  Seems Sullivan was the 
SAC in charge of a number of cases from which the money 
had been seized.  In court testimony the FBI swears 
they knew of his problems and that he had embezzled the
money to feed his gambling addiction, lied to save his 
ass, yet his bad judgment had no affect on these 
investigations.

Penalties:  The penalties for a RICO conviction can 
be up to 20 years and $25,000 in fines on EACH COUNT. AND
check this out.  If they find $5,000 in your safety deposit
box or under your mattress, seize it and you are found 
NOT GUILTY in court, the government DOES NOT have to 
give the money back to you.

Most law abiding citizens are not aware of RICO or that the 
penalty for a RICO conviction can be   up to twenty years in prison 
for each count. A person convicted under RICO could actually do 
more time for the RICO portion than the actual crime committed.

Another RICO provision enabled prosecutors to charge crimes 
for which a defendant had already been convicted and punished in state
 court. The logic behind this  loophole is that you have punished the criminal
 but NOT the CRIMINAL ENTERPRISEORGANIZATION as a whole.


This statue was not good news for Gotti. Yes, Gotti had prior
convictions for attempted manslaughter and hijacking. And yes
he did his time for those convictions housed in a federal facility.
And yet the prosecution could not resist the temptation to use
the RICO act as a way of convicting Gotti for racketeering and
supposedly running a  criminal enterprise. After being busted for 
drugs and under pressure from the FBI, Armond Dellacroce admitted
to the existence of a criminal enterprise and referred to 
the Gambino Family and Bergin Crew.
McBratney Murder


Diane Giacalone, the U.S. attorney preparing the federal 
racketeering case against Gotti would further her paranoia with
the idea that John Gotti was intimidating witnesses in this
case the same way she had insisted he intimidated 
Romual Piecyk on a previous case. This false allegation was all 
she needed to convince a judge to revoke Gotti's bail and send
him back to prison to await his court date on RICO charges
nearly ten months later.


Through an informant who turned out to be a disgruntled ex girlfriend (not me of course)
of one of Gotti's friends, Bruce Mouw, who was heading up the FBI's campaign against
Gotti, thought he'd found proof that Gotti's associates had paid 
one of the jurors to throw the case.

In spite of this "Get Gotti" campaign unfairly waged against 
the reputed mafia boss, John Gotti managed to beat the
government's case thanks to his lawyer Bruce Cutler

Months later, John Gotti a celebrated hero, Robin Hood 
of sorts praised and revered by his neighbours for his annual
4th of July parties which complete with fire works, free food, free
t-shirts and with Gotti himself picking up the tab for this  feast in Ozone Park .   
 Mr. Gotti is not the first so called Mob Boss to be accused of
Racketeering and prosecuted under the RICO statute. Here is a 
list of a few other victims:


 CarlosMarcello of New Orleans. Buffalino of Pittston, PA, Dominic 
Brooklier his son Anthony, an excellent high profile attorney from Los Angeles, has faced problems of his own recently after being targeted.

     In March 1983, Nick Civella was paroled from the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in
 Springfield, Missouri. He was going home to die. Civella was surrounded by family members
 when he passed away,  but was unable to speak. 

Next came Anthony Corallo (Luchesse) and  Carmine Persico 
(Colombo) who are each serving 100 years on RICO charges. Mr. Persico
is making the best while in minimum security at Lompoc, CA. and
while he may play drums in a prison rock band, he can't go 
on tour or buy a slurpee at 7-11.  
 Lompoc Four Rock Band

Next would come Patriarca and Bianco of New England area and Amico of Rochester, New York. Then in 1992 Gotti was convicted with the help of Sammy Gravano

After that Vic Orena of New York City, Iacobacci of Cleveland, Tony Ducks Carollo of New Orleans, Phil Stanfa of Philly, Ricciardi of New York City (Luchese), Sam Carlisi of Chicago and finally a successful conviction thanks in part to Gravano of Gigante, and after being sentenced to over 150 years he will remain beyond bars. Mr. Carlisi, however has since passed on.