{"id":376047,"date":"2016-03-31T21:36:30","date_gmt":"2016-04-01T02:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/state\/pennsylvania-law\/pennsylvania-racketeering-laws.html"},"modified":"2018-03-02T14:02:12","modified_gmt":"2018-03-02T19:02:12","slug":"pennsylvania-racketeering-laws","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/state\/pennsylvania-law\/pennsylvania-racketeering-laws.html","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania Racketeering Laws"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Pennsylvania Racketeering Laws<\/h1>\n
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Created by FindLaw’s team<\/a> of legal writers and editors<\/i><\/p>\n\n | Last updated\n

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The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n<\/section>\n

Overview of Pennsylvania Racketeering\/RICO Laws<\/h2>\n

Federal and state racketeering laws make it a crime for a criminal organization or enterprise to receive income through such organization or enterprise’s "pattern of racketeering activity" or collection of unlawful debts. Like the federal Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act<\/a>, which prohibits an array of activities relating to any such enterprise engaged in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, Pennsylvania’s Corrupt Organizations Act also criminalizes the infiltration and corruption of legitimate businesses by organized crime. The purpose of the statute is to "successfully resist and eliminate" such infiltration and corruption by providing "new remedies and procedures."<\/p>\n

Additional details about Pennsylvania’s racketeering laws can be found in the following table.<\/p>\n\n
Statute<\/b><\/td>\nPennsylvania Statutes Title 18, \u00a7 911<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>
Specific Offenses Prohibited Under this Law<\/b><\/td>\n
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  • To use or invest, directly or indirectly, any part of income "derived, directly or indirectly, from a pattern of racketeering activity in which such person participated as a principal," or the proceeds of such income, in the acquisition of any interest in, or the establishment or operation of, any enterprise.<\/li>\n
  • To acquire or maintain, directly or indirectly, any interest in, or control of, any enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity.<\/li>\n
  • To conduct or participate, directly or indirectly, in the conduct of such enterprise’s affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, where the person is employed by or associated with the enterprise.<\/li>\n
  • To conspire to violate any of the statute’s provisions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>
Crime Classification \/ Penalties<\/b>
\n<\/td>\n		1st degree felony \/ up to 20 yrs. in prison, plus fines<\/td>\n<\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n

For purposes of the statute, "racketeering activity" includes an act which is indictable under specified provisions of Pennsylvania statutory criminal law; an offense, indictable under the Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act, relating to the sale and dispensing of narcotic drugs; the collection of any money or property in full or partial satisfaction of an unlawful debt; any indictable offense relating to gaming; and a conspiracy to commit any of the offenses listed in this paragraph.<\/p>\n

Moreover, a person participates in a "pattern of racketeering activity" when he or she engages in a "course of conduct requiring two or more acts of racketeering activity," one of which must occur after the effective date of the statute. Significantly, a defendant need not be convicted of the predicate crimes constituting the pattern of racketeering to satisfy the necessary pattern; the statute requires only that the prosecution prove the elements<\/i> of two or more predicate criminal acts beyond a reasonable doubt.<\/p>\n

Finally, an "enterprise" means "any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity, and any union or group of individuals associated in fact, although not a legal entity, engaged in commerce"; the term includes legitimate as well as illegitimate entities and governmental entities.<\/p>\n

To secure a corrupt organizations conviction, the prosecution must therefore prove beyond a reasonable doubt that:<\/p>\n

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  1. The defendant participated in a pattern of racketeering activity within the state
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  2. by one of the means proscribed in the statute (i.e.<\/i>, by using or investing the proceeds of such pattern in an enterprise; acquiring or maintaining any interest in or control or an enterprise through such pattern; conducting or participating in an enterprise’s affairs through such pattern; or conspiring to do any of the above); and<\/li>\n
  3. the gain derived from the racketeering activity was channeled into an enterprise in the state for the purpose of corrupting that enterprise and gaining a foothold for organized crime within the state.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Defenses<\/h2>\n