The World in U.S. Courts: Fall 2014 - Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)
May.01.2014
The defendant Thomas was indicted for criminal RICO violations, and he moved to dismiss on a number of grounds, including that servers apparently instrumental to the alleged violation were located in Russia. The District Court in Nevada cited precedent that addressed the geographic scope of RICO in terms of the location of the alleged "racketeering activity." It found such activity in the U.S. through allegations that the defendant operated a scheme to manufacture and sell counterfeit U.S. drivers' licenses and "access devices" of a type purchased and used by U.S. financial institutions. Thus, while defendants utilized the Internet and servers (wherever located), the Court concluded that the indictment was properly based on allegations of U.S. racketeering activity.