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I. INTRODUCTION
Congress designed The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ("RICO"),1 enacted as Title IX of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970,2 to combat organized crime.3 RICO also has broad application beyond the organized crime context, because Congress has mandated that RICO "be liberally construed to effectuate its remedial purposes."4 In Sedima, S.P.R.L. v. Imrex Co.,5 the Supreme Court concluded that RICO is not limited to organized crime, and may be applied to legitimate businesses.6 The Court has also held that RICO applies to enterprises without an economic motive.7 Although the Supreme Court subsequently reaffirmed its reliance on RICO's "liberal construction" clause,8 it has acknowledged that this clause is not without limits.9
Prosecutors often use RICO in a wide variety of criminal contexts10 for at least three commonly cited reasons: (1) Congress has mandated that RICO be construed liberally;11 (2) RICO does not require any mens rea beyond that necessary for the predicate acts;12 and (3) RICO provides for severe sanctions which can be tacked on top of sanctions the defendant may receive for the underlying offenses.13
In addition to criminal actions, RICO permits private plaintiffs and the government to seek redress in a civil action.14 Under sec 1964, the Attorney General15 or "any person injured in his business or property by reason of a violation of section 1962"16 may bring a civil action in either state or federal court.17 RICO provides equitable relief through divestiture of the defendant's interest in the enterprise, restrictions on future activities or investments, and dissolution or reorganization of the enterprise.18 While this Article focuses primarily on the criminal aspects of RICO, the close relationship between criminal and civil RICO actions necessitates some discussion of civil cases.
Section 1962 prohibits "any person"19 from: (a) using income received from a pattern of racketeering activity or from the collection of an unlawful debt to acquire an interest in an enterprise affecting interstate commerce,20 (b) acquiring or maintaining through a pattern of racketeering activity or through collection of an unlawful debt21 an interest in an enterprise affecting interstate commerce,22 (c) conducting or participating in the conduct of the affairs of an enterprise affecting interstate commerce through a pattern of racketeering activity or through collection of an unlawful debt,23 or (d)...