Federal prosecutors pursue gangs with anti-Mafia law
LOS ANGELES -- Sneaky, Shy Boy, Big Barney, and dozens of other gangsters were not merely hoodlums who ran a bustling drug trade. Prosecutors insist that the Vineland Boys were an organized criminal enterprise just like the Mafia.
To prove it, they are relying on the same law that put John Gotti behind bars.
Similar cases are being pursued across the nation as prosecutors go after gangs in novel ways, often using methods created to fight mob activity.
One such trial is expected to start next week in Los Angeles, where prosecutors have charged members of the Vineland Boys not with murder or drug trafficking, but with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
The RICO act is aimed at those who profit from criminal organizations but manage to avoid illegal activities.
``Gang members out here are clearly becoming more sophisticated in their operations and tactics, and we're adjusting to meet that," said Assistant US Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien.
Last year, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzalez pressed for an increase in prosecutions of street gangs, which he dubbed one of the country's greatest threats.
In recent months, more than 50 alleged gang members have been indicted on federal drug, gun, and racketeering charges -- compared with an average of 10 federal indictments annually over the previous 10 years.
Critics say overzealous prosecutors are trying to get headlines and are not having a lasting effect on the estimated 80,000 gang members in Los Angeles.
The RICO law, a 1970 statute passed to combat organized-crime syndicates, has been used against gangs in California, Georgia, Maryland, and Oklahoma, among other states.
It can mean a life sentence, but prosecutors must prove that indicted gang members who did not pull the trigger or sell a bag of heroin still profited from the criminal enterprise.
But that requires exhaustive investigations .
``They will send lots of people to jail, but won't change the streetscape," said Lawrence Rosenthal, a law professor at Chapman University in Orange County.
