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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.
Jeffrey Keith Skilling is an American businessman who in 2006 was convicted of federal felony charges relating the Enron scandal. Skilling,who was CEO of Enron during the company's collapse,was eventually sentenced to 24 years in prison,of which he served 12 after multiple appeals.
Dowling v. United States,473 U.S. 207 (1985),was a United States Supreme Court case that discussed whether copies of copyrighted works could be regarded as stolen property for the purposes of a law which criminalized the interstate transportation of property that had been "stolen,converted or taken by fraud" and holding that they could not be so regarded under that law.
Richard Marin Scrushy is an American businessman and convicted felon. He is the founder of HealthSouth Corporation,a global healthcare company based in Birmingham,Alabama. In 2004,following an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),Scrushy was criminally charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Scrushy was charged with 36 of the original 85 counts but was acquitted of all charges on June 28,2005,after a jury trial in Birmingham.
Thomas Bailey Murphy was an attorney and American politician from the U.S. state of Georgia. Murphy was the Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives from 1973 until his defeat in the general election of 2002,making him the third longest serving House Speaker of any U.S. state legislature,behind only Michael Madigan of Illinois and Solomon Blatt of South Carolina. He was a member of the Democratic Party.
Charles W. Walker Sr. is a former state senator in the legislature of the state of Georgia. He was first elected in 1990. In 1996,he became Georgia's first African-American Senate Majority Leader. Walker is a Democrat and is from Augusta,Georgia.
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Honest services fraud is a crime defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1346,added by the United States Congress in 1988,which states "For the purposes of this chapter,the term scheme or artifice to defraud includes a scheme or artifice to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services."
McNally v. United States,483 U.S. 350 (1987),was a case in which the United States Supreme Court decided that the federal statute criminalizing mail fraud applied only to the schemes and artifices defrauding victims of money or property,as opposed to those defrauding citizens of their rights to good government. The case was superseded one year later when the United States Congress amended the law to specifically include honest services fraud in the mail and wire fraud statutes.
Skilling v. United States,561 U.S. 358 (2010),is a United States Supreme Court case interpreting the honest services fraud statute,18 U.S.C. § 1346. The case involves former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling and the honest services fraud statute,which prohibits "a scheme or artifice to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services". The Court found the statute vague,meaning it was written in a manner that almost anyone could be convicted of the statute by engaging in most legal activities. However,the Court refused to void the statute as unconstitutionally vague. The Court decided to limit the application of the statute only to defendants who hold a fiduciary duty and they participate in bribery and kickback schemes. The Court supported its decision not to rule the statute void for vagueness on its obligation to construe and not condemn Congress' laws. Ultimately,Skilling's sentence was reduced by 10 years as a result.
Cleveland v. United States,531 U.S. 12 (2000),was a United States Supreme Court case that concerned the definition of "property" under the federal mail fraud statute. In a unanimous decision,the Court held that "property" for the purposes of federal law did not include state video poker licences because such transactions were not a vested right or expectation.
Several statutes,mostly codified in Title 18 of the United States Code,provide for federal prosecution of public corruption in the United States. Federal prosecutions of public corruption under the Hobbs Act,the mail and wire fraud statutes,including the honest services fraud provision,the Travel Act,and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) began in the 1970s. "Although none of these statutes was enacted in order to prosecute official corruption,each has been interpreted to provide a means to do so." The federal official bribery and gratuity statute,18 U.S.C. §201,the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) 15 U.S.C. §78dd,and the federal program bribery statute,18 U.S.C. §666 directly address public corruption.
McDonnell v. United States,579 U.S. 550 (2016),was a United States Supreme Court case concerning the appeal of former Virginia Governor Robert F. McDonnell's conviction for honest services fraud and Hobbs Act extortion. At issue on appeal was whether the definition of "official act" within the federal bribery statutes encompassed the actions for which McDonnell had been convicted and whether the jury had been properly instructed on this definition at trial.
References
- ↑ "Members Of The General Assembly Of Georgia - Senate and House Of Representatives - First Session of 1993- 1994 Term". State of Georgia. January 1993. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- 1 2 Sandy Hodson; Tom Corwin; Sylvia Cooper (May 5, 2005). "Williams is guilty on all 17 charges". The Augusta Chronicle. Archived from the original on September 5, 2008. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- ↑ "FORDHAM v. UNITED STATES - United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. John Duncan FORDHAM, Robin L. Williams, Petitioners–Appellants, v. UNITED STATES of America, Respondent–Appellee". FindLaw. January 31, 2013. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
- ↑ Sandy Hodson (September 25, 2011). "Trio of convicted Augusta politicians await release from prison". The Augusta Chronicle. Retrieved April 29, 2018.