The Courts have concluded that a pattern consists of at least two acts of racketeering activity in furtherance of one or more incidents, schemes, or transactions that have the same or similar intent, results, accomplices, victims or methods of commission or otherwise are interrelated by distinguishing characteristics and are not isolated incidents. The incidents do not have the occur at the same time, but the Court has stated that at least one of the incidents must be within four years of a prior incident of racketeering activity. O.C.G.A. § 16-14-3(4)(A)
Georgia Case Law on Racketeering
An example of a defendant being convicted under the RICO statute can be found in Kilby v. State. 335 Ga. App. 238, (2015). The defendant, Kilby, was the director and a fiduciary of an animal shelter. During her time as director, Kilby linked two PayPal accounts that were intended for donations to the animal shelter to her own personal accounts and routed to herself a total of $10,500. In addition, she instructed her employees to give all the cash to her and to not give out receipts. After years of this occurring, an employee reported her to an investigative team of a local television network. The investigator discovered what Kilby was doing, and she was subsequently indicted for 29 counts of theft by taking and 29 counts of computer theft.
During the trial, Kilby argued that there was insufficient evidence to support theft by taking and racketeering. She specifically argued that the State failed to prove that the money she directed to her personal accounts was the property of the animal shelter. However, two members of the Board of Direction of the animal shelter testified that Kilby was never authorized to solicit funds and deposit them into her personal bank account. Moreover, Kilby testified that the transactions involved donation money that was intended for and belonged to the animals. Therefore, the jury found Kilby guilty of racketeering based upon the theft by taking incidents.
What has to be Proven to be Convicted
To be convicted of violating the RICO Act, the State must demonstrate that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. That involves showing a pattern of unlawful conduct and that the offenses committed were ones included under the RICO Act. A couple of isolated incidents will not be sufficient to establish a pattern.
Also, the conduct must be criminal. The person committing the racketeering activity must have the requisite intent to be found guilty of the crime.
Penalty for a RICO Conviction in Georgia
A person convicted of a crime under the RICO Act will be guilty of a felony and will be punished by either prison or a fine. If the penalty is prison, the term will be between five and twenty years. If the penalty is a fine, it will not exceed the greater of $25,000.00 or three times the amount of any pecuniary value gained by him or her from such violation. The fine amount will be determined by a hearing.
In addition to prison time and or a fine, the defendant could also be subject to civil punishments as well. A judge may order a defendant to give up any business interest in a property that was gained through violating the RICO statute. Another option is that the judge could enforce an injunction or prohibition on the defendant from engaging in the same type of industry as the business they were convicted for.
Victims can also file actions against the defendant for three times the amount of damages they sustained. If appropriate, they can also seek punitive damages.
