Question

What is the RICO Act, how is it applied and what are the special penalties that may be applied and what are the significance of those penalties

Answer 1

First of all RICO Act rightly called Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisation Act is an act which was developed to grant penalties in crimes and or civil cases , treating them as an act carried on from the behalf of a criminal organisation in role. This is a federal law of United States. It is applied by generally penalizing the persons concerned in racketeering or other serious criminal activities.

There are various penalties that can be applied to a person charged under a RICO case . But the maximum imprisonment that can be granted to a person accused under RICO Act may be 20 years of imprisonment in case of imprisonment or if a fine is charged then a fine of $ 250,000. Or sometimes the amount may be twice of the amount of the offence committed by the accused.

The RICO penalties have travelled a great way in countering heinous and serious crimes in United States. It penalizes the accused greatly in order to check the rate of such crimes in United States. It has also brought with itself a civil course of action. It helps to mitigate crime.