Racketeering crimes as defined in 18 USC section 1961 include as follows:

18 U.S.C.§ 2332b(g)(5)(B) lists approximately fifty offenses that may constitute RICO predicate offenses under 18 U.S.C. § 1961(1)(G).and the following offenses:

Section 2332b(g)(5)(B)(I) – 18 U.S.C. § 32 (relating to destruction of aircraft or

aircraft facilities), 18 U.S.C. § 37 (relating to violence at international airports), 18

U.S.C. § 81 (relating to arson within special maritime and territorial jurisdiction), 18

U.S.C. §§175 or 175b (relating to biological weapons), 18 U.S.C. § 229 (relating to

chemical weapons), 18 U.S.C. §§ 351(a), (b), (c), or (d) (relating to congressional,

cabinet, and Supreme Court assassination and kidnaping), 18 U.S.C. § 831 (relating

to nuclear materials), 18 U.S.C. §§ 842(m) or (n) (relating to plastic explosives), 18

U.S.C. §§ 844(f)(2) or (3) (relating to arson and bombing of Government property

risking or causing death), 18 U.S.C. § 844(I) (relating to arson and bombing of

property used in interstate commerce), 18 U.S.C. § 930(c) (relating to killing or

attempted killing during an attack on a Federal facility with a dangerous weapon), 18

U.S.C. § 956(a)(1) (relating to conspiracy to murder, kidnap, or maim persons

abroad), 18 U.S.C. §1030(a)(1) (relating to protection of computers), 18 U.S.C.

§ 1030(a)(5)(A)(I) resulting in damage as defined in 1030(a)(5)(B)(ii) through (v)

(relating to protection of computers), 18 U.S.C. § 1114 (relating to killing or

attempted killing of officers and employees of the United States), 18 U.S.C. § 1116

(relating to murder or manslaughter of foreign officials, official guests, or

internationally protected persons), 18 U.S.C. § 1203 (relating to hostage taking), 18

U.S.C. § 1362 (relating to destruction of communication lines, stations, or systems),

10 18 U.S.C. § 1363 (relating to injury to buildings or property within special maritime

and territorial jurisdiction of the United States), 18 U.S.C. §1366(a) (relating to

destruction of an energy facility), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1751(a), (b), (c), or (d) (relating to

Presidential and Presidential staff assassination and kidnaping), 18 U.S.C. §1992

(relating to wrecking trains), 18 U.S.C. § 1993 (relating to terrorist attacks and other

acts of violence against railroad carriers and against mass transportation systems on

land, on water, or through the air), 18 U.S.C. § 2155 (relating to destruction of

national defense materials, premises, or utilities), 18 U.S.C. § 2280 (relating to

violence against maritime navigation), 18 U.S.C. § 2281 (relating to violence against

maritime fixed platforms), 18 U.S.C. § 2332 (relating to certain homicides and other

violence against United States nationals occurring outside of the United States), 18

U.S.C. § 2332a (relating to use of weapons of mass destruction), 18 U.S.C. § 2332b

(relating to acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries), 18 U.S.C. § 2339

(relating to harboring terrorists), 18 U.S.C. § 2339A (relating to providing material

support to terrorists), 18 U.S.C. § 2339B (relating to providing material support to

terrorist organizations), or 18 U.S.C. § 2340A (relating to torture).

Section 2332b(g)(5)(B)(ii) – 42 U.S.C. § 2284 (relating to sabotage of nuclear

facilities or fuel). Section 2332b(g)(5)(B) (iii) – 49 U.S.C. § 46502 (relating to aircraft piracy), the

second sentence of 49 U.S.C. § 46504 (relating to assault on a flight crew with a

dangerous weapon), 49 U.S.C. § 46505(b)(3) or (c) (relating to explosive or

incendiary devices, or endangerment of human life by means of weapons, on

aircraft), 49 U.S.C. § 46506 if homicide or attempted homicide is involved (relating

to application of certain criminal laws to acts on aircraft), or 49 U.S.C. § 60123(b)

(relating to destruction of interstate gas or hazardous liquid pipeline facility).

Chapter 113B of title 18 (18 U.S.C. § 2331 et seq.) sets forth the crimes of terrorism,

including acts of terrorism across national boundaries. Under current law, certain

terrorism crimes can be prosecuted by the United States regardless of where they are

committed. For example, section 2333b (terrorism transcending national boundaries)

and section 2332a (use of weapons of mass destruction). There are, however, no

explicit extraterritorial provisions in other statutes that may be violated by terrorists.

Section 1962(c) makes it a crime to conduct the affairs of an enterprise affecting interstate

or foreign commerce “through” a pattern of racketeering activity or through the alternative theory of collection of an unlawful debt.

Section 1962(d) makes it a crime to conspire to commit any of the three substantive RICO

offenses.

State Offenses

Section 1961(1)(A) defines racketeering activity as follows:

any act or threat involving murder, kidnaping, gambling, arson, robbery, bribery,

extortion, dealing in obscene matter, or dealing in a controlled substance or listed

chemical (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act) [i.e., 21 U.S.C.

§ 802], which is chargeable under State law and punishable by imprisonment for

more than one year.

This statute added 18 U.S.C. § 1589 (forced

labor), 18 U.S.C. § 1590 (trafficking with respect to peonage, slavery, involuntary servitude, or

forced labor), and 18 U.S.C. § 1591 (sex trafficking of children or by force, fraud, or coercion) as

RICO predicate offenses in Section 1961(1)(B). The effective date for this amendment is

December 19, 2003.

“extortion” and “coercion,” stating: extortion requires that one “obtains [the] property of another” using threat as “the method employed to deprive the victim of his property.” This “obtaining” is further explained as “‘bring[ing] about a transfer or purported transfer of a legal interest in the property, whether to the obtainer or another.’” Coercion, on the other hand, is defined as making “specified categories of threats . . . with the purpose of unlawfully restricting another’s freedom of action to his detriment.”

Mail fraud,

used fictitious and fake name

Under the federal drug statutes, marijuana is considered a controlled substance but not a narcotic drug. Section 1961(1)(D) substituting “controlled substance or listed chemical” for “narcotics or other dangerous drug.” Thus, a marijuana offense occurring after the 1994 amendment is a proper RICO predicate. Offenses occurring prior to the 1994 amendment

may be proper RICO predicates as well: court decisions addressing the propriety of a pre-1994

marijuana offense as a RICO predicate have held in the Government’s favor.48 Accordingly, it is the position of the Criminal Division that marijuana offenses may be proper RICO predicates.49

Another issue that has arisen in RICO cases involving federal narcotics offenses is whether

mere possession of illegal narcotics for personal consumption is a RICO predicate. At least one

court has held that such mere possession is not a proper RICO predicate, but that possession with

intent to distribute is a proper RICO predicate. United States v. Darden, 70 F.3d 1507, 1524 (8th

47 Cir. 1995), cert. denied, 517 U.S. 1149 (1996). The Organized Crime and Racketeering Section will not approve possession of a de minimis amount of drugs as a RICO predicate. Possession of a larger amount may be approved if it could be inferred from the quantity and other relevant facts that the drugs were for distribution and not merely for personal consumption.

Representative cases charging federal generic predicate offenses:

Title 11 (relating to bankruptcy fraud) United States v. Weisman, 624 F.2d 1118 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 871

Immigration and Nationality Act Offenses

Section 1961(1)(F), added by several amendments in 1996, includes as racketeering activity:

any act which is indictable under the Immigration and Nationality Act, i.e., section

274 (relating to bringing in and harboring certain aliens), section 277 (relating to

aiding or assisting certain aliens to enter the United States), or section 278 (relating

to importation of aliens for immoral purposes) if the act indictable under such section

of such Act was committed for the purpose of financial gain.

These violations are codified, respectively, at 8 U.S.C. §§ 1324, 1327 and 1328. See also discussion of ex post facto issues arising from such amendments in Section VI(F)(4) below.

Representative cases charging Immigration and Nationality Act offenses:

Williams v. Mohawk Indus., Inc., 411 F.3d 1252 (11th Cir. 2005), vacated on other

grounds, 547 U.S. 1075 (2006).