Unpopular Opinion
 
Pastorius at IBA writes:

Thursday, October 29, 2009 RICO - The Beginning of the End of Radical Islam In America - The Feds Are Claiming A "Criminal Conspiracy" Yesterday, Imam Abdullah was shot dead by Federal Authorities, after he opened fire on those who were attempting to arrest him.

Normally, that would be enough cause for celebration.

But, in this case, we have even more cause for celebration. I have been scanning the horizon of Internet news, for over a year now, waiting to find the Magic Words; "Criminal Conspiracy".

Why?

Because I am, and have been convinced, that we already have laws on the books which can bring Radical Islam to it's knees here in America.

The most important of these laws are the Smith Act (Sedition), and the RICO Statutes (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act). For today, we will just concentrate on RICO, because that is what we have before us in the, apparent, Federal Prosecution which is brewing against the ten people who were sought yesterday in the raid which ended with Abdullah dead.

First, let's look at some of the text from the original New York Times article:

"Federal authorities say a leader of what they describe as a nationwide radical Sunni Islam group ... at a Dearborn warehouse on charges that included conspiracy to sell stolen goods and illegal possession and sale of firearms. Authorities also conducted raids elsewhere to try to round up 10 followers named in a federal complaint."

Now, let's look at what is covered by the RICO Act:

Under RICO, a person who is a member of an enterprise that has committed any two of 35 crimes—27 federal crimes and 8 state crimes—within a 10-year period can be charged with racketeering. Those found guilty of racketeering can be fined up to $250,000 and/or sentenced to 20 years in prison per racketeering count. In addition, the racketeer must forfeit all ill-gotten gains and interest in any business gained through a pattern of "racketeering activity." RICO also permits a private individual harmed by the actions of such an enterprise to file a civil suit; if successful, the individual can collect treble damages...

Read the whole article at IBA.