Fact Situation: Joe Bagadonuts, the alleged godfather of an organized crime family, the Lambettas, has walked into courtrooms accused of crimes and walked out a free man on numerous occasions. For the last 15 years, federal agents and prosecutors have tried to nail the "killer Don" and during those years he has lived on the fringe of justice outside of their grasp. He escaped conviction ten times on charges ranging from racketeering to murder during the last ten years. Now, Bagadonuts is in jail charged with extortion and is waiting another trial.

The facts that led to Bagadonuts being charged by local authorities with the crime of extortion are as follows:

Donnie Aiello and Joe Adonis, two bosses of Bagadonuts' crime family, had entered the Good Food Restaurant where Bagadonuts habitually spent his evenings and approached Bagadonuts' table as he enjoyed wine with a bodyguard. The two gangsters seated themselves at Bagadonuts' table; while there, they explained to the Don of their crime family that they wanted to "license an outlaw gambling operation" and asked for his approval.

Bagadonuts was under surveillance at the time of this conversation and was observed gesturing with his hands and face, saying nothing, but conveying approval. The two younger crime bosses excused themselves and left. Several soldier members of Bagadonuts' family then, approximately one week later, assaulted and threatened to kill the owner of the outlaw gambling operation and extorted several thousand dollars from him. After this assault and successful extortion, the two bosses again joined Bagadonuts in the restaurant and were observed turning over money to Bagadonuts without any explanation. The local authorities had a mike near Bagadonuts' table in the restaurant and had been monitoring his conversations for approximately two months. They did not succeed in obtaining any incriminating conversations on the part of Bagadonuts who never replied to any remarks that could be considering as relating to criminal activity.

In the Lambetta Crime Family, Bagadonuts was in charge of supervising and protecting the criminal activities of his family. The leadership as well as the lower ranking members were included in the management structure and engaged in a variety of criminal activities both independently and as part of a conspiratorial operation. When Bagadonuts was arrested and incarcerated, the family selected an acting boss to direct the criminal activities and run the family while Bagadonuts remained in jail. Intelligence information relating that the family's activities included extortion, labor racketeering, drug trafficking, gambling, loan sharking, bribery, and corruption. Bagadonuts is believed, however, to still have influence over the family's actions. He uses his long-time enforcer, Tommy Udo, as a liaison with the family. Tommy Udo has been an associate of the family for fifteen years, but because he is not of Italian heritage he is not a "made" member. Udo has a prior history of arrests and convictions for violent crimes. While incarcerated, Udo received a high score on the psychopathy checklist.

As a member of a combined city and federal organized crime task force that brings all investigative cases to the United States Attorney's Office, you and your team have decided to present a federal case against Bagadonuts and the Lambetta Crime Family that will be much stronger and will have greater penalties than the local extortion case.

Questions:

Can you and your team utilize the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act, or other federal criminal statutes, to obtain an indictment against Joe Bagadonuts and members of his criminal organization's enterprise? If so, explain how the federal statute(s) you intend to use will be applied in this matter.

What investigative strategies will your team apply to obtain sufficient information for the purpose of meeting the requirements of the RICO Act or other federal statutes? You need to locate the RICO Act and any other statute you select.

What is the possibility that a known psychopath like Tommy Udo could be recruited as a reliable informant and used to develop further evidence against the Lambetta crime family?