Opinion ID: 2669163
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Requirements of an “Enterprise”

Text: The term “enterprise” “includes any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity, and any union or group of individuals associated in fact although not a legal entity.” 18 U.S.C. § 1961(4) (2006). An association-in-fact requires: (1) a purpose, (2) relationships among those associated with the enterprise, and (3) longevity sufficient to permit those associated with the enterprise to pursue the enterprise’s purpose. See Boyle v. United States, 556 U.S. 938, 946 (2009). An enterprise may exist even without a formal hierarchy, chain of command, fixed roles, a name, established rules, initiation ceremonies, or regular meetings. Id. at 948. To qualify as an enterprise under RICO, the association need only be a “continuing unit that functions with a common purpose.” Id.; see United States v. Turkette, 452 U.S. 576, 583 (1981) (concluding that an association-in-fact enterprise constitutes a “group of persons associated together for a common purpose of engaging in a course of conduct”). 27