Have you been charged with a RICO crime?

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If you have been charged with RICO, you need a team of experienced criminal defense attorneys focused on achieving the absolute best outcome for your case. Call and speak with a Cooley Iuliano Robey, PLLC criminal defense attorney at 859-636-6803.

Types of RICO Charges and Predicate Offenses

RICO chargers refer to the crimes outlined in the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, a federal law passed in 1970 that made it clear all those involved in a racketeering conspiracy are guilty of the crime. The law involving racketeering and other crimes carried out by criminal organizations, called the Organized Crime Control Act, was enacted with the goal of prosecuting the mafia at the time. But it has since expanded to include any type of racket and illegal organized criminal acts, like insurance fraud, mail fraud, or even money laundering. A lot of white collar crimes are charged under the RICO act.

Obtaining the services of a RICO defense attorney Lexington against racketeering charges is the first thing you need to do. CIR Legal’s seasoned RICO attorneys can help you with any type of racketeering charge and help you determine what you’re up against.

Money Laundering and Currency Crimes

A criminal group or a person sometimes are forced to hide where their money comes from, as a result of profiting from their crimes, and this leads to the crime of money laundering, which basically means you are “washing” those dollars and making it appear clean. 

Being accused of money laundering isn’t profiting off of a crime, nor is it purchasing something with that money. It’s trying to conceal where that money came from. A criminal can hide the origin of their illegal money when they create a legal business, for example, and then those funds are used to generate profits from that. You can get charges filed for money laundering by both the Kentucky and federal government, depending on where and how the crime was carried out. 

Most of the time, especially when being tried in federal district court, money laundering is charged under RICO laws meant to take down organized crime, because it is usually a very complicated scheme involving many persons. Hiding millions of dollars in illegal money is an entire social effort. It’s a violation of 18 U.S.C. §1956, with consequences that can a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, or if it is a  violation of 18 U.S.C. §1957, the result is a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. 

Unemployment Fraud

Unemployment insurance (known also as unemployment benefits, unemployment compensation) is the government program that provides temporary income relief to those recently unemployed. It is a type of insurance in case a worker is left without a job for a period of time. Former employees must apply to the program, as it is not automatically given after losing one’s employment. Workers who quit their jobs voluntarily are not eligible. 

Unemployment compensation fraud, also known as unemployment insurance or unemployment benefits fraud is usually prosecuted by the states, although it is also a federal crime under penal code 18 U.S.C. § 1341. It’s a crime that can be committed by both an employer and a claimant of unemployment insurance benefits. An employer can be accused of giving a false statement about a lower wage than the actual, or a claimant can be accused of collecting full benefits when they’re not eligible or reporting a false wage as well. 

Kentucky also has laws against insurance fraud, including workers compensation. KRS Section 304.47-020 punishes those that present any written or oral statement in support of a claim of payment, knowing that claim is false, incomplete or misleading. It also punishes giving or helping to give misleading information concerning anything about the application of insurance compensation. For example, claiming to have suffered an injury through their employment in order to obtain workers compensation, when in reality, this was a lie. 

If you are being accused of an unemployment fraud crime, finding experienced professionals like Lexington KY criminal defense attorney or an unemployment fraud lawyer immediately after your arrest is where you should start in taking control of your future.

Federal Fraud Crimes

a case of federal fraud crime can be defined as the intentional deception, or misrepresentation used to benefit yourself or someone else from several financial or legal products and services. 

A type of fraud can be credit and debit card fraud, which is when someone is caught using stolen card information from another person intending to make purchases with it or is caught using a stolen ID to open an account, or even using a stolen credit card. 

Another form of fraud is federal wire fraud and federal mail fraud. Both are now used almost interchangeably because of how much communication and financial transactions have become intertwined. Federal wire fraud charges can apply to using the internet or a wire service to blackmail or bribe someone. Federal mail fraud is the same crime but when using traditional mail. 

Unemployment compensation fraud is usually prosecuted by the states, although it is also a federal crime under 18 U.S.C. § 1341. It’s a crime that can be committed by both an employer and a claimant of unemployment insurance. An employer can be accused of reporting a lower wage than the actual, or a claimant can be accused of collecting full benefits when they’re not eligible, or reporting a false wage as well.

Aggravated Identity Theft

The crime of aggravated identity theft is a severe felony in the United States. Itis defined as transferring, possessing, or using the means of identification (an ID) of another person, without that person’s authority, and using that stolen identification to commit a crime. Without the stolen identification being used to commit a crime, the accused will only be charged with simple identity theft. 

Aggravated identity theft can lead to a felony charge and a sentence of 2 years in prison if the crimes committed with the stolen identification, which are a list of 60 predicate federal felony offenses  (18 U.S.C. 1028A)  or 5 years if the crime committed with the stolen identification is terrorism. 

Federal Gambling Offenses

Gambling in the United States is a complicated subject. It varies from state to state, it’s legal in some native American lands and not in others, and it’s not completely illegal at the federal level. The key point is to make sure whatever gambling activity you might be engaged in is permitted under state or federal law. 

According to Title 18 of the  U.S. Code, Section 1955, charges of illegal gambling apply to “whoever conducts, finances, manages, supervises, directors, or owns all or part of an illegal gambling business” and the penalties can either fines, which can be severe or up to five years in prison. Illegal gambling is then defined as “a violation of state law or of any political subdivision, involving five or more persons in the entire operation of the gambling business, and has been or remains in substantially continuous operation for a period in excess of thirty days or has a gross revenue of $2,000 in any single day.

Title  31 of the U.S. Code, Subchapter IV, deals with internet gambling, or the Prohibition On Funding Of Unlawful Internet Gambling. Unlawful online gambling is a very problematic crime for the federal government, as it can be hard to define, prosecute, and even track down. Many online gambling operations operate from outside the U.S., making it difficult for authorities to go after them. 

Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which tries to regulate and criminalize illegal online gambling by prohibiting anyone involved in online gambling, from accepting credit cards, electronic transfers of funds, checks, or any other similar payment instrument that are meant for online gambling.