Racketeering is the heaviest charge in the white collar family. Florida’s RICO Act, in chapter 895, makes it a first-degree felony to conduct or acquire an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity, or to collect an unlawful debt. It mirrors the federal RICO statute it was modeled on, with real differences, and its defining feature is scope: it lets the State charge an entire enterprise, and many defendants, in one sprawling case.
This is the area where my earlier experience matters most. A statewide racketeering case is a particular kind of animal, built from a pattern stitched together out of many smaller acts, and defending one means understanding how the State assembles the enterprise and the pattern, and where those connections are thin.
Enterprise, Pattern, and Predicate
A RICO charge has moving parts the State has to prove and connect. There has to be an enterprise, formal or informal. There has to be a pattern of racketeering activity, defined as at least two related predicate incidents within five years of each other. And there has to be a connection, conducting or acquiring the enterprise through that pattern. The predicates are drawn from a long list of underlying crimes, and stringing them into a single pattern is both the State’s strategy and its vulnerability. The State may allege the enterprise connection in general terms, but Florida courts require it to identify at least two specific predicate offenses rather than a vague reference to criminal activity (see State v. Whiddon, 384 So. 2d 1269 (Fla. 1980)).
| Element | What the State must show | Stakes |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise | A group, business, or association, formal or informal | Charged as a whole, many defendants at once |
| Pattern of racketeering | At least two related predicate incidents within five years of each other | First-degree felony, up to 30 years |
| Connection | Conducting or acquiring the enterprise through that pattern | Civil forfeiture under chapter 895 |
Predicate crimes can be charged alongside the RICO count, historic convictions can be used as predicates, and the limitations period is five years. Prosecutions often rest on wiretaps and voluminous records.
Earlier in my career, my practice was almost entirely white-collar defense, including fraud cases, conspiracy charges, and a statewide racketeering prosecution. That work shaped how I read these files: where the money really moved, what the State can prove about intent, and where a paper case quietly falls apart. I defend the state-level side of these matters here in Florida. When a case is federal, or turns federal, I bring in or refer trusted federal co-counsel so you are covered on both tracks rather than caught between them. Learn more about my background.
Why RICO Multiplies Exposure
Two features make a RICO charge so dangerous. First, Florida allows conviction of both the racketeering count and the predicate offenses that make up the pattern, so the underlying crimes do not merge into the RICO count, they stack with it. Second, chapter 895 carries its own civil forfeiture, which can pursue property tied to the enterprise on a separate civil track, on a different timeline from the criminal case.
The breadth that helps the State also burdens it. To prove an enterprise and a pattern, the State usually leans on wiretaps, business records, and mountains of financial documents, and it has to connect each piece to the whole. That is a heavy lift, and the connections are where a RICO case is most often challenged.
What an Enterprise Looks Like
The enterprise is the heart of a RICO case and the State’s heaviest burden. It can be a formal business or an informal association of people, and Florida specifically treats a criminal gang as one kind of enterprise. The State has to prove the enterprise exists as something more than the sum of the individual crimes, then show that each defendant participated in or acquired it through the pattern of racketeering.
The statute hands prosecutors some unusual tools. Historic convictions can be used as predicate incidents, pulling old conduct into a new charge, and a civil investigative subpoena issued during a racketeering investigation is kept confidential for a set period. The flip side is that the more the State has to prove, the more places the case can come apart. If the proof shows a loose set of unrelated crimes rather than a genuine enterprise and pattern, the racketeering count cannot stand even where individual offenses might.
How a RICO Case Is Defended
The defense aims at the seams. If the State cannot prove an enterprise, or cannot tie the predicates into a genuine pattern rather than a collection of unrelated acts, the RICO count fails even if some underlying conduct survives. Attacking the predicates individually matters too, because each weak predicate weakens the pattern, and the five-year window between incidents is a real limit that can break the chain. Florida courts have also recognized advice of counsel as a defense to the specific-intent crimes that often serve as predicates, including racketeering and organized fraud, which can undercut the pattern from the inside.
The evidence is a front of its own. Wiretaps have legal requirements that can be challenged, and the volume of records cuts both ways, since gaps and ambiguities favor the defense as much as the bulk favors the State. Because forfeiture runs in parallel, and because many of these cases can also draw federal interest, the defense has to protect assets and coordinate with federal co-counsel where the matter crosses that line, all from the start. Because forfeiture runs in parallel, and because many of these cases can also draw federal interest, the defense has to protect assets from the start.
“Rory is one of the best, most talented lawyers I have dealt with. He was one of the lawyers working on my statewide RICO case. I would call him late on a Friday or Saturday evening, stressed out, and he would be at the office working on my motions or going through discovery. It was his masterful motions, breaking the case down, that gave me the deal of a lifetime.”
Tony S.
Common Questions
What is racketeering under Florida law?
Florida's RICO Act, in chapter 895, makes it a first-degree felony to conduct or acquire an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity. It mirrors the federal RICO statute but has real differences, and it lets the State charge an entire enterprise at once.
What is a pattern of racketeering?
At least two related predicate incidents within five years of each other. The predicates are drawn from a long list of underlying crimes, and the State has to tie them to an enterprise and to a pattern rather than treat them as isolated acts.
Can I be convicted of RICO and the underlying crimes?
Yes. Florida allows conviction of both the racketeering count and the predicate offenses that make up the pattern, which is part of why a RICO charge multiplies exposure so sharply.
What does forfeiture have to do with it?
Chapter 895 allows civil forfeiture of property tied to the enterprise, running alongside the criminal case. That means assets can be targeted separately, on a different timeline, which has to be defended in parallel.
Why are these cases so document-heavy?
Because the State has to prove an enterprise and a pattern, RICO prosecutions usually rest on wiretaps, business records, and financial documents. That volume is a burden on the State as much as the defense, and gaps in the pattern are where the case can be challenged.
Related: White collar and fraud overview, Money laundering, Scheme to defraud and organized fraud, Pre-file defense and asset forfeiture, and About Rory Safir.
This page is general information about Florida law, not legal advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. These offenses are governed by chapters 817, 831, 895, and 896, and section 775.0844, Florida Statutes, and many of the same facts can also draw federal charges, so the exposure should be confirmed against current state and federal law. Every case turns on its own facts, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
