Opinion ID: 2585
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: NCCigarettes Association-In-Fact Enterprise

Text: To the extent the City's complaint can be construed as alleging an association-in-fact enterprise consisting of NCCigarettes.com and the Internet service provider, Xfire, we agree with the District Court that the City has failed to meet its pleading burden. Perhaps because the City never intended to plead an association-in-fact with respect to this group of defendants, it has not provided any solid information regarding the hierarchy, organization, and activities of the alleged enterprise, from which we could fairly conclude that its members functioned as a unit. See Satinwood, 385 F.3d at 174 (internal quotation marks omitted). Thus, to the extent that the City has indeed attempted to allege an association-in-fact enterprise with respect to this group of defendants, the District Court's dismissal of this claim is affirmed.