There is a good deal of specific legality, which is involved in cases of gambling or racketeering. A New York Sex Crimes Lawyer said the fact that a person is engaged in a criminal enterprise must be proven. In order for a case to be considered a criminal enterprise, the person must have committed three or more acts that constitute separate and distinct crimes that relate to the same enterprise. The crimes must be separate and able to be tried an convicted on their own without being a drawn out version of just one crime. A crime is not a criminal enterprise if it just takes a long time to commit the one crime. In gambling or numbers operations, it can sometimes be difficult to show that the gambling operation is actually a criminal enterprise.
In one case from 1997, the court arrested several subjects and charged them with conspiracy and operating a criminal enterprise in Queens County. The police alleged that the gambling operation was started around August 15, 1996 and continued until the arrests of the subjects on November 7, 1997. The indictment charged that the defendants in the case were all members of a notorious gambling organized crime ring that was run by the Conigliaro family. The police brought forth evidence that demonstrated that the enterprise was organized in Queens, Kings, and Richmond Counties in the state of New York. It showed that there was a bookmaker, who was in control of ensuring that the operation ran smoothly. There was a controller, who handled the daily business of the enterprise and all of the accounting details. There were several clerks who took the betting information by phone and had runners meet with the bettors each week to settle the accounts.
The defense maintained that the organization could not be convicted for operating a criminal enterprise because their crimes were gambling only. A New York Sex Crimes Lawyer said the pattern of illegal gambling activity was documented from November 1988 to July of 1991. The legislators maintained that illegal enterprises were specifically considered in the written statute to include “syndicated gambling.” The question of law was whether these actions constituted on criminal purpose and objective or not. If it is one purpose and objective, then the case cannot be a criminal enterprise because there has to be three distinct acts.
The prosecutor contends that each individual person who entered and placed bets were individual offenses that prove the case of three or more criminal acts that created the criminal enterprise. Because the overall goal of gambling is the same, it is possible that either or both arguments could hold. A Queens Sex Crimes Lawyer said the difference lies in the parties that are involved. It is true that the crime of gambling is considered to be a victimless crime, much like prostitution. Both parties must engage in a criminal act for the act to occur at all. So every time that a bettor entered the establishment, they dealt with the same people who were part of the organization. The defense maintains that it is that consistency that creates a single act with a single goal. The prosecution maintains that each new bettor created a different transaction. Each different transaction was an independent crime. Three or more independent crimes constitute a criminal conspiracy or enterprise.
The Supreme Court justices agreed with the prosecution in that each individual, distinct act of placing a bet was a different incident. A Nassau County Sex Crimes Lawyer said that engaging in a criminal enterprise can have one continuous common goal, while still maintaining separate and distinct criminal acts that benefit the criminal enterprise as a whole. The ability to decipher the complicated issues that are involved in organized crime cases, it is important to be well versed in white-collar crime and financial crimes.
At Stephen Bilkis & Associates, our Queens Criminal Lawyers are knowledgeable in defending organized crime cases. We can meet you in convenient offices throughout New York and the Metropolitan area. Our Queens Drug lawyers can provide you with advice to guide you through any situation.