Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
abstract:Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly referred to as the RICO Act or simply RICO, is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. The RICO Act focuses specifically on racketeering, and it allows the leaders of a syndicate to be tried for the crimes which they ordered others to do or assisted them, closing a perceived loophole that allowed someone who told a man to, for example, murder, to be exempt from the trial because he did not actually commit the crime personally.
Of the 65 counts in the indictment, Hall and 34 others were charged with one count of violating Georgia's RacketeerInfluencedandCorruptOrganizationsAct, commonly known as RICO.
The two companies are now faced with a class-action lawsuit arguing that a joint venture between them violated the federal RacketeerInfluencedandCorruptOrganizationsAct, commonly known as RICO.