Dupage Policy Journal

Several politicians have been in talks regarding gang activities in Illinois.

One of these politicians is Sen. John Curran, who’s been outspoken about using the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

“We had a comprehensive ethics package last year that we passed that was a good first step,” Curran said. “However, there was much more on the table that we had put forward to discuss — two items, in particular, proposals that I put forth last year and continue to this year, that would address specifically what's going on with the former speaker and just corruption in government. One, an expansion of the statewide grand jury, which would get the attorney general involved in investigating public corruption crimes.”

The RICO Act initially targeted the Mafia.

The federal RICO Act was signed into law in 1970, according to Justia. The RICO Act allows for all members of a corrupt organization to face prosecution.

The law was initially designed to take down Mafia organizations but has since been used to target street gangs, drug cartels, politicians and corrupt police departments.

A person charged with violating RICO must be connected to an enterprise (such as a street gang or political party) and have engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity related to that enterprise. Thirty-five activities are considered racketeering, including wire fraud, bribery, kidnapping, drug dealing and murder.

An individual must have committed at least two of those crimes in the last 10 years to be charged under RICO. In June of 2012, former Gov. Pat Quinn signed the Illinois Street Gang RICO Act into law, CBS reported, becoming the 32nd state in the nation to enact a RICO statute.

Former Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez supported the legislation, stating that it would help tackle the city's gang violence problem.

The Illinois Street Gang RICO Act states: “the substantial harm inflicted on the people and economy of this state by pervasive violent street gangs and other forms of enterprise criminality, is legitimately a matter of grave concern to the people of this state who have a basic right to be protected from that criminal activity and to be given adequate remedies to redress its harms. Whereas the current laws of this State provide inadequate remedies, procedures and punishments, the Illinois General Assembly hereby gives the supplemental remedies of the Illinois Street Gang and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Law full force and effect under law for the common good of this state and its people.”

The legislation is scheduled to expire in June 2022.

“Because the Illinois RICO statute is a direct response to Chicago’s gang violence and is designed to protect the public from the pervasive violence committed by street gangs and other criminal enterprises, it excludes investigations into other types of organizations, such as white-collar crime, public corruption and unions,” Derek Keenan wrote in DePaul Law Review.

Former Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan was indicted on March 2 for federal racketeering and bribery charges. 

“The 22-count indictment accuses Madigan of leading for nearly a decade a criminal enterprise whose purpose was to enhance Madigan’s political power and financial well-being while also generating income for his political allies and associates,” a release from the Department of Justice said. 

Madigan is facing charges of racketeering conspiracy, as well as individual counts of using interstate facilities to carry out bribery, wire fraud and attempted extortion. The release notes that in addition to his role as speaker of the House, Madigan has also held the positions of representative of Illinois’s 22nd District, committeeman for Chicago’s 13th Ward, chairman of both the Illinois Democratic Party and the 13th Ward Democratic Organization and partner at the Chicago law firm of Madigan & Getzendanner.

Madigan pled "not guilty" on March 9, the Chicago Sun Times reported. Madigan will appear in front of a U.S. district judge for a hearing on April 1.