Nevada’s RICO law is NRS § 207.400. It outlaws racketeering, which is any criminal activity done as part of an unlawful business such as drug rings, prostitution rings, illegal gambling rings, or other organized crime.
RICO cases never stem from a single, isolated event. Instead, Nevada RICO charges involve:
- two or more racketeering offenses that occur within a five-year time span, and
- these racketeering offenses share common intents, patterns, or victims.1
“Racketeering offenses” include Nevada’s most serious felonies:
Proving Nevada RICO charges
For you to be convicted of racketeering in Nevada, the state attorney general (AG) must prove beyond a reasonable doubt one of the following ten things:
- With criminal intent, you used racketeering proceeds to acquire real estate or an interest in any enterprise;
- You acquired any interest in any enterprise through racketeering;
- You knowingly worked for or were associated with any racketeering enterprise;
- You intentionally managed or financed a criminal syndicate;
- You knowingly induced others to use violence or intimidation to further a criminal syndicate;
- You knowingly assisted in the management or financing of a criminal syndicate;
- You intentionally promoted a criminal syndicate by inducing a public employee to act in a way that violates their official duty;
- You transported property to another person knowing they would use it for racketeering;
- You knowingly used property derived from unlawful activity to further racketeering activity or to conceal the source or location of the property; and/or
- You conspired to do any of the above.2
RICO penalties
Racketeering is a category B felony in Nevada. The sentence carries five to 20 years in Nevada State Prison. In addition, the judge can order you to pay up to $25,000 or the greater of:
- up to three times the gross pecuniary value you gained; or
- up to three times any gross loss you caused such as property damage or personal injury (but not pain and suffering).
You may also be ordered to pay any court costs and reasonable costs of law enforcement’s investigation and prosecution of your case.
Finally, you will likely have to forfeit any cash, property, or other proceeds you obtained through racketeering. Law enforcement typically seizes these assets at the beginning of your case. Though if your RICO charges are dropped, then your property should be returned.3
RICO defenses
Here at Las Vegas Defense Group, I have represented literally thousands of people charged with racketeering offenses. In my experience, the following three defenses are very effective with prosecutors, judges, and juries.
1) You had no criminal intent
I rely on this defense if you worked for a business that you genuinely believed was lawful, and your boss used it as a front for racketeering without your knowledge.
Here I compile your work emails, voicemails, and other recorded communications to show the AG that you honestly thought you were working for a legitimate enterprise. Once the state sees it cannot prove that you had criminal intent, the RICO charge should be dropped.
2) The racketeering offenses were not related
I may be able to get your RICO charge dismissed if I can show prosecutors that the multiple offenses you are accused of were not related to each other. Valuable evidence I rely on includes video surveillance, eyewitnesses, GPS records, and recorded communications.
Note that if the AG drops your RICO charge, they may still try to prosecute you for the underlying felonies. In that case, I would defend against them charge-by-charge as I would in any non-RICO criminal case.
3) The police committed an unlawful search
I always investigate the police’s investigation of you because sometimes they make critical errors that cast doubt over your entire case.
If it appears the police’s search of your property violated your Fourth Amendment rights, I would file a motion to suppress asking the judge to throw out the unlawfully-taken evidence. If the judge agrees, the AG may be forced to drop your Nevada RICO charge for lack of proof.
Nevada v. federal RICO charges
Federal RICO laws and penalties are largely similar to Nevada’s with one exception: Whereas Nevada law requires racketeering activities to occur within five years of each other, federal law requires the activities occur within 10 years.4
Note that if you are prosecuted with federal RICO charges in Nevada, your case will be heard in one of Nevada’s two federal courthouses in Reno or Las Vegas.
Both federal and Nevada RICO charges carry up to 20 years in prison.
Additional reading
For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:
- Organized Crime, Transit Crime, and Racketeering – Crime and Justice
- Racketeering and the Federalization of Crime – American Criminal Law Review
- Racketeering Prosecution: The Use and Abuse of RICO – Rutgers Law Journal
- Anti-Racketeering Legislation in America – American Journal of Comparative Law
- Rape as a Violent Crime in Aid of Racketeering Activity – Law & Psychology Review
Legal Citations
- Nevada Revised Statute 207.360–510. See also Siragusa v. Brown (Nev. 1998) 971 P.2d 801; Wilson v. Grundy (Nev. 2023) 536 P.3d 913.
- Same.
- Same.
- 18 U.S.C. §§1961–68. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) under Title IX of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970. See also In re Stratosphere Corp. Sec. Litig., (D. Nev. 1999) 66 F. Supp. 2d 1182.
