Opinion ID: 770518
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Mandatory nature of statute

Text: 40 RICO provides specifically that a defendant convicted of a violation of the Act shall forfeit to the United States . . . any interest the person has acquired or maintained in violation of section 1962 [and] any property constituting, or derived from, any proceeds which the person obtained, directly or indirectly, from racketeering activity or unlawful debt collection in violation of section 1962. 18 U.S.C. § 1963(a)(1) & (3) (emphasis added). In light of the shall forfeit language, courts have held that the statute creates a mandatory obligation of forfeiture after a RICO conviction. See United States v. Faulkner, 17 F.3d 745, 774-75 (5th Cir. 1994) (holding that forfeiture is not discretionary; rather, jury instructions must follow the shall forfeit language of the statute); United States v. Busher, 817 F.2d 1409, 1413-14 (9th Cir. 1987) (determining that forfeiture is not limited to tainted assets of a RICO enterprise, but extend to the convicted person's entire interest in the enterprise). Though the statute appears to require total forfeiture of illegal proceeds, courts can reduce the forfeiture to make it proportional to the seriousness of the offense so as not to violate the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment or excessive fines. See United States v. Sarbello, 985 F.2d 716, 717-18 (3d Cir. 1993) (holding that the mandatory statutory penalty may be reduced to conform to the Eighth Amendment). 41 We find that the shall forfeit language of the statute mandates that a district court assess forfeiture against the defendant when the facts support a finding of a sufficient nexus between the property to be forfeited and the RICO violation. See DeFries, 129 F.3d at 1313. Only property 'acquired or maintained' through racketeering activity or 'derived from[ ] any proceeds . . . obtained, directly or indirectly from racketeering activity' is subject to forfeiture. Id. We believe that this finding is consistent with the plain language of the statute and with the punitive purpose of RICO. See Russello, 464 U.S. at 26-27 (stating that RICO should be broadly construed to effectuate its remedial purpose); DeFries, 129 F.3d at 1315 (emphasizing that RICO forfeiture is a punitive, not a restitutive, remedy).