Please help with two replies for the following discussion posts:

1) Organized crime is a continuing enterprise that rationally works to profit from illicit activities that are often in great public demand. Its continuing existence is maintained through the corruption of public officials and the use of intimidation, threats, or force to protect its operations stated by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. In my own words, I would say that organized crime is planned for a really long time and that when it is planned the person thinks about all the options before they choose which option to go with. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), is a U.S. federal statute targeting organized crime and white-collar crime. Since being enacted in 1970, it has been used extensively and successfully to prosecute thousands of individuals and organizations in the United States (Jenkins, 2024). If you are under RICO, it is a crime if you belong to an enterprise, that is involved in a pattern of racketeering. RICO is defined in an extremely broad manner and includes many offenses that do not violate federal statutes like murder, kidnapping, gambling, arson, robbery, bribery, extortion, or dealing in narcotics or other dangerous drugs. An example of a case that used RICO was the United States v. Sam Bailey Gang. The successful prosecution used the RICO statute to allege that a gang of postal burglars and a Nevada fence collaborated criminally in an organized crime fashion (Wikipedia, 2023).

2) Organized crime refers to a group of individuals or enterprises engaged in illegal activities, typically operating in a structured and systematic manner to generate profit through unlawful means (OJP, 1980). These criminal organizations often have a hierarchical structure, specialized roles for members, and use violence, corruption, and intimidation to achieve their objectives.

One significant federal piece of legislation that has been enacted to combat organized crime in the United States is the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act of 1970. The RICO Act was designed to target the activities of organized crime syndicates by allowing prosecutors to go after both the leaders and members of criminal enterprises (Justia, 2023).The RICO Act has proven to be a powerful tool in the fight against organized crime. By enabling law enforcement agencies to prosecute individuals involved in racketeering activities, such as bribery, extortion, money laundering, and fraud, the RICO Act has been instrumental in dismantling criminal organizations and disrupting their illegal operations. One notable success of the RICO Act was its use against the Italian-American Mafia families in the United States. Through RICO prosecutions, law enforcement agencies were able to convict high-ranking members of these criminal organizations and significantly weaken their influence and power.