The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, otherwise known as RICO. It's famous as the law used to take down organized crime, with then-U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani bringing the Mafia Commission Trial in the 1980s after indicting nine high-level organized crime figures, including the heads of New York's "Five Families."
But that's not the only time it comes up in court. It's been used in criminal court to go after motorcycle clubs, wealthy investors, the Key West Police Department in Florida, R&B singer R. Kelly and even President Donald Trump, but also in civil cases, like against Big Tobacco and sex abuse claims against the Catholic Church.
RICO is the subject of our second episode this season: What it is, what it isn't and why it's used so much in one particular state.
Special guests:
- George Anastasia, former Philadelphia Inquirer crime reporter
- Jeff Grell, an attorney and lecturer at the University of Minnesota Law School
- Eric Seidel, former deputy attorney general in charge of New York’s Organized Crime Task Force
- Joe Lancaster, an assistant editor at Reason
This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.
Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Cardiac Cowboys
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.