Opinion ID: 710265
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Sufficiency of the Evidence to Prove RICO Conspiracy.

Text: 59 Appellants were each convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1962(d), which makes it unlawful for any person to conspire to violate a substantive RICO provision. Appellants challenge the required elements of (1) an enterprise, (2) a pattern of racketeering activity, and (3) an effect on interstate commerce. 60 First, we are persuaded that the government's naming of the Yahweh Nation as the RICO enterprise was proper. Substantial legal precedent permits a wide range of legitimate enterprises to be named as the vehicle through which racketeering acts are committed. See United States v. Turkette, 452 U.S. 576, 580, 587, 101 S.Ct. 2524, 2527, 2530, 69 L.Ed.2d 246 (1981); United States v. Zielie, 734 F.2d 1447, 1463 (11th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1189, 105 S.Ct. 957, 83 L.Ed.2d 964, and cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1216, 105 S.Ct. 1192, 84 L.Ed.2d 338 (1985). A variety of entities can be enterprises, including benevolent and nonprofit organizations such as unions and benefit funds, governmental units, courts and judicial offices, police departments, and motorcycle clubs to name a few. 61 Second, we are convinced that the government properly proved a pattern of racketeering by showing the required relatedness and continuity of the criminal acts as well as the required relationship between the racketeering acts and the enterprise. In order to prove the required two predicate acts, the government must show that the racketeering predicates are related, and that they amount to or pose a threat of continued criminal activity. H.J. Inc. v. Northwestern Bell Telephone Co., 492 U.S. 229, 239, 109 S.Ct. 2893, 2900-01, 106 L.Ed.2d 195 (1989). The acts were related in that they all revolved around the simple purposes of silencing dissention, retaliating for community resistance, and making the death angels a reality. The acts showed the required continuity, because they continued over an approximately five-year period. The acts also affected the enterprise and/or the enterprise facilitated the racketeering activities. The racketeering acts affected the Temple by eradicating dissention, eliminating opposition from the community, and confirming the members' belief in death angels and Yahweh's prophecies. The acts bolstered members' morale and commitment to the group and reinforced the members' hostility to the outside community. 7 62 Third, the appellants assert that the government did not prove that the predicate acts affected interstate commerce. To satisfy the interstate commerce requirement, only a slight effect on interstate commerce is required. See, e.g., United States v. Norton, 867 F.2d 1354, 1359 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 491 U.S. 907, 109 S.Ct. 3192, 105 L.Ed.2d 701, and cert. denied, 493 U.S. 871, 110 S.Ct. 200, 107 L.Ed.2d 154 (1989). The testimony at trial was undisputed that the Yahweh Nation reached out to other states and indeed to other countries in an attempt to spread its influence. Yahweh publications and tapes were distributed throughout the United States in Yahweh trucks or by mail and were sent to foreign countries. Given this concerted effort to establish national and international influence and the Yahweh membership's extensive travel in interstate commerce, the effect of the Nation on interstate commerce is more than slight. 63