Opinion ID: 784137
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introduction

Text: 1 Beginning in June of 1999, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania returned a series of indictments culminating in January 2001 in the thirty-six count fourth superceding indictment on which the seven defendants who had not already pled guilty went to trial in March of 2001. In broad summary, the defendants were charged with Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) conspiracy and a RICO substantive count, with the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra (LCN) family alleged to be The Enterprise. Murder and conspiracy to murder, violent crime in aid of racketeering, extortion and conspiracy to extort, the operation of illegal sports bookmaking businesses, and thefts of goods in interstate commerce were among the thirty-six racketeering acts and thirty-six counts charged. 2 On July 20, 2001, four months to the day on which trial commenced, all of the seven defendants were convicted of at least some of the charged offenses, including RICO and RICO conspiracy. However, all of the charges, be they racketeering acts or substantive counts, alleging anything to do with murder or violent crimes in aid of racketeering and many of the numerous extortion racketeering acts and counts were found by the jury to be wanting and resulted in findings of not proven or acquittals. The government, and there is no way to sugar-coat it, lost the heart of its case. 3 In December of 2001, the seven defendants were sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 71 months to 168 months. They now appeal, raising pretrial, trial, and sentencing issues that, because of the permutations and combinations specific to each of the defendants, total approximately thirty. 4 We will not address each of the issues raised but, rather, will focus on those issues which we believe particularly warrant discussion. Suffice it to say, however, that whether addressed or unaddressed, we have carefully considered each issue and, aside from one count and a sentencing enhancement as to one defendant, we will affirm the judgments of conviction and sentence.