An acronym for the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, passed into US law in 1970. It was designed to give federal prosecutors a little extra leverage in going after organized crime families, but the wording was such that it could (and can) be applied to any organization, even The Everything Development Company (watch yer bax!*) Rudolph Giuliani shot to fame by applying it towards drug kingpins (thereby helping launch the latest version of that War on Drugs thing), and, in later years, the application of RICO put a crimp in the rising star of Operation Rescue.

IANAL, so someone will explain all this further; I just wrote this node as an excuse to link together John Gotti, Randall Terry, CowbotNeal, and drug kingpins in one place.

*This is neither a statement alleging the racketness or corruptness of The Everything Development Company, but merely an example that any organization (domestic or foreign, even) can be fair game for RICO. If anyone was offended by my inclusion of The Everything Development Company in this writeup, someone else will gladly apologize on someone's behalf. Offer void in Hawaii, Atlantis, Aoxomoxoa, and Crooklyn. Batteries not included. Regular use may cause side effects, such as hairy palms, blindness, and Tourette's-like effects. It is now kistomary to cuss the bride.

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