The use of the RICO Act can be an effective prosecutorial tool in cases like the one the Fulton Country DA has brought against former President Trump, experts say.
August 14, 2023, 11:10 PMFulton County District Attorney Fani Willis poses for a portrait on April 19, 2023, in Atlanta.
Separate from the 1970 federal RICO law that precipitated the prosecution of some of the largest organized crime families, Georgia's RICO law broadly mirrors the federal law with notable changes that broaden state prosecutors' ability to charge defendants, according to multiple legal experts who spoke with ABC News.
Georgia's law permits prosecutors to charge as few as one defendant in a criminal scheme and does not require an extended timeframe for the crime, according to Timmons -- giving prosecutors more leverage against individual actors. In 1984, prosecutors charged Georgia's labor commissioner and multiple labor department employees with racketeering. Prosecutors eventually convicted the labor commissioner on fraud conspiracy charges.
In 2002, Floyd successfully helped convict former DeKalb County Sheriff Sidney Dorsey on murder and racketeering charges after Dorsey ordered the murder of a political opponent who beat him in a 2000 election.
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