The Federal RICO Act
On October 15, 1970, the Racketeer Influenced
and Corrupt Organizations Act (18 U.S.C. §§
1961–1968), commonly referred to as the "RICO
Act", became United States law.
Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a “racket”) to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit.
The RICO Act allowed law enforcement to charge a person or group of people with racketeering, defined as committing multiple violations of certain varieties within a ten-year period.