The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization.
The American Correctional Association is a private,non-profit,non-governmental trade association and accrediting body for the corrections industry,the oldest and largest such association in the world. The organization was founded in 1870 and has a significant place in the history of prison reform in the U.S.
Lynne Marsha Abraham is an American attorney who served as the district attorney of the City of Philadelphia from May 1991 to January 2010. She was the first woman to serve as Philadelphia's district attorney. Abraham won election to that position four times.
Jack Bruce Johnson is a former American politician and lawyer. He was a Maryland state's attorney and was,from 2002 to 2010,the county executive of Prince George's County,Maryland. He was elected state's attorney in November 1994 and served as county executive from December 2002 to December 2010. On November 12,2010,both Johnson and his wife were indicted on federal charges as part of a larger political corruption scandal in the county.
Steven L. "Stevie" Crea is an American mobster and former underboss of the Lucchese crime family. In August 2020,Crea was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and racketeering.
Bruce Lee Castor Jr. is an American lawyer and retired Republican politician from Montgomery County,Pennsylvania. He was appointed as the first Solicitor General of Pennsylvania in March 2016,and also first deputy attorney general the following July. Castor became acting attorney general less than a month later. He led for the defense of the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump along with American lawyer David Schoen.
The Philadelphia crime family,also known as the Bruno–Scarfo crime family,the Philadelphia–Atlantic City crime family,the Philadelphia Mafia,the Philly Mafia,or the Philadelphia–South Jersey Mafia,is an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania. Formed and based in South Philadelphia,the criminal organization primarily operates in Philadelphia and the Greater Philadelphia metropolitan area,including South Jersey. The family is notorious for its violence,its succession of violent bosses,and multiple mob wars.
Thomas J. Spota III is a former American attorney and politician,who served as the District Attorney of Suffolk County,New York,serving from 2002 to late 2017,but was disbarred on June 10,2020. Spota resigned November 10,2017,after he was indicted on federal charges of obstruction of justice in the investigation of Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke. Spota was subsequently found guilty and sentenced to five years in federal prison and fined $100,000.
John Barbato,nicknamed "Johnny Sausage",is an American mobster and former captain in the Genovese crime family. Barbato served as acting underboss from 2003 to 2005.
The sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia,in Pennsylvania,U.S.,is a significant episode in the series of Catholic sex abuse cases in the United States,Ireland and elsewhere. The Philadelphia abuses were substantially revealed through a grand jury investigation in 2005. In early 2011,a new grand jury reported extensive new charges of abusive priests active in the archdiocese. In 2012,a guilty plea by priest Edward Avery and the related trial and conviction of William Lynn and mistrial on charges against James J. Brennan followed from the grand jury's investigations. In 2013,Charles Engelhardt and teacher Bernard Shero were tried,convicted and sentenced to prison. Lynn was the first official to be convicted in the United States of covering up abuses by other priests in his charge and other senior church officials have been extensively criticized for their management of the issue in the archdiocese.
Operation Bid Rig was a long-term investigation into political corruption in New Jersey conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation,the Internal Revenue Service,and the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 2002 to 2014.
The kids for cash scandal centered on judicial kickbacks to two judges at the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas in Wilkes-Barre,Pennsylvania,US. In 2008,judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella were convicted of accepting money in return for imposing harsh adjudications on juveniles to increase occupancy at a private prison operated by PA Child Care.
John J. "Johnny Doc" Dougherty is a former labor leader in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania. He was the business manager of the powerful IBEW Local 98 and a prominent political figure who helped numerous Democratic candidates get elected by directing donations and volunteers. In 2021,he was convicted of fraud and resigned as business manager of Local 98. In 2023,he was convicted of 70 counts of embezzlement for stealing funds from the union.
East Mississippi Correctional Facility is a men's prison located in unincorporated Lauderdale County,Mississippi,near Meridian. It is about 90 miles east of the capital,Jackson. Opened in 1999,the special needs prison is intended to provide a high level of care for up to 1500 prisoners with serious mental illness,at all custody levels.
Kathleen Margaret Kane is an American former politician and lawyer who served as the attorney general of Pennsylvania from 2013 until her resignation in 2016,following her conviction for perjury,obstruction of justice,and related charges for illegal activities while she was attorney general. She was the first woman and first Democrat ever elected to the position.
Operation Mississippi Hustle was a federal investigation initiated in 2014 by the United States Attorney and prosecuted in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. It examined the relationship between officials of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and various for-profit prison contractors and subcontractors,who have provided services to the five private prisons in the state. One,Walnut Grove,closed in September 2016 but has since reopened.
Lawrence Samuel Krasner is an American lawyer who is the 26th District Attorney of Philadelphia. Elected to the position in 2017,Krasner was one of the first in the United States to run as a self-described "progressive prosecutor". He campaigned on a platform to reform elements of the criminal justice system,including reduced incarceration.
