Opinion ID: 814677
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Focus on the Pattern of Racketeering Activity

Text: “[T]he heart of any RICO complaint is the allegation of a pattern of racketeering.” Agency Holding, 483 U.S. at 154 (emphasis in original omitted); see also H.J. Inc. v. Nw. Bell Tel. Co., 492 U.S. 229, 236 (1989) (describing “RICO’s key requirement of a pattern of racketeering”). As noted, several post-Morrison courts have determined that RICO’s focus is on the pattern of racketeering activity for purposes of 18 UNITED STATES V . XU analyzing extraterritorial application of the statute. Philip Morris, Inc., 783 F. Supp. 2d at 29; CGC Holding Co., 824 F. Supp. 2d at 1209; Chevron, 2012 WL 1711521, at –8. RICO’s statutory language and legislative history support the notion that RICO’s focus is on the pattern of racketeering activity. For example, 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c), which forms the basis of Defendants’ count one convictions, prohibits the conduct of a criminal enterprise’s affairs “through a pattern of racketeering activity.” Other sections prohibit the use of funds derived from a pattern of racketeering activity in the investment in or acquisition of an enterprise involved in interstate commerce. Id. §§ 1962(a)–(b). Furthermore, RICO’s legislative history shows that the statute was enacted to promote “the eradication of organized crime in the United States by strengthening the legal tools in the evidencegathering process, by establishing new penal prohibitions, and by providing enhanced sanctions and new remedies to deal with the unlawful activities of those engaged in organized crime.” Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, Statement of Findings and Purpose, Pub. L. No. 91-452, 84 Stat. 922 (1970) reprinted in 1970 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News 1073 (emphasis added). Given this express legislative intent to punish patterns of organized criminal activity in the United States, it is highly unlikely that Congress was unconcerned with the actions of foreign enterprises where those actions violated the laws of this country while the defendants were in this country. See Chevron, 2012 WL 1711521, at . Thus, to determine whether Defendants’ count one convictions are within RICO’s ambit, we look at the pattern of Defendants’ racketeering activity taken as a whole. UNITED STATES V . XU 19