Organized Crime: The role

of the Federal Government

Mike McCarry

Thesis Statement
The United States
Government has
taken action in
controlling forms or
organized crime in
the past, as they still
do in todays
modern world, and
as they need to
continue to control
in the future.

Introduction to Organized
Crime

Organized crime is any group having

some manner of a formalized structure
and whose primary objective is to
obtain money through illegal activities.
Many different faces, from illustrious
Italian Mafia, Soviet Russians, Nigerians,
Chinese, Japanese, and European
nations such as Hungary and Romania

Past

First organization of
criminals came to U.S
when Italian immigrants
arrived in early 1800s
Cammora Mafia, Sacra
Corona Unita Mafia, and
Sicilian Mafia (which
held the most influence)
Began drug trafficking
and money laundering

Past

Sicilian Mafia most

influential- money
laundering,
racketeering, drug
trafficking became
easy to them
Not until early 1900s
that federal and state
law enforcement took
active stance against
organized crime

Past- First Big Bust

1929- Al Capone who

ruled an empire of
organized crime
Feds went to his
house to subpoena
him as a witness to
another crime, he told
them he was sick and
was later seen
vacationing in the
Bahamas
Cited for contempt of
court, released on bail

Past- First Big Bust

Arrested again for gun

possession, in jail for
short time
While in jail, FBI gained
enough evidence to
arrest him for failing to
pay income taxes
Locked up in Alcatraz for
11 years, died soon after
his release
This was first look at
aggressive stance
against organized crime
in U.S

Past- R.I.C.O

1970- Racketeering Influence and Corrupt

Organizations Act was passed
Gave authorities much more broad power
to target entire criminal enterprises
Now able to pin crimes on top bosses
for their connections in the crimes that
they ordered to be carried out by hit-men

Past- John Gotti

Also known as Teflon Don, influential mobster of 1970s80s

In and out of prison throughout life, important name for
Gambino crime family in New York
Break for FBI came in early 1980s when wire taps gave
away inside information on criminal activities against Gotti

Past- John Gotti

Gotti was seen driving

away from a crime scene
where he had ordered
another Mafia boss to be
murdered
FBI built a strong case
based on video
surveillance and wire taps
worn by Mafia informants
Arrested Gotti for
racketeering, extortion,
jury tampering, and murder
Gotti died in jail

Present

Many ethnic groups began to take part in

organized crime
Asian criminal enterprise has been in US since
1900s and evolved from Chinese Tongs- social
organizations formed by early Chinese
Immigrants
Now many Asian nations have joined together
to form a fairly strong group of organized
criminals
The Asian nations that are involved are: China,
Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam

Present

The Asian criminal

enterprise conducts
crimes such as:
extortion, murder,
kidnapping, smuggling
aliens, heroin
trafficking, and
counterfeiting goods
Feds have set up The
National Police Agency
of Japan Working
Groups- discuss criminal
investigations dealing
with Asian crime groups

Present

African crime groups

are developing quickly
Nations that are
involved include:
Nigeria, Ghana, and
Liberia
Operate in over 80
countries and do most
crimes through new
technology and
communications
Heroin trafficking

Present

African criminal
enterprise cost the
United States an
estimated 2 billion
dollars last year through
financial fraud
FBI set up The
Department of Justice
Nigerian Crime Initiative
in order to better
prosecute African
organized criminals
Despite hard work, the
group continues to grow

Future

I believe there is a
very promising future
for organized crime in
America
Although crime
organizations may
change their methods,
there will always be
some type of illegal
activities being
executed by groups of
criminals

Future

Although laws were passed to make crimes

such as racketeering and extortion harder to
commit, other more complex crimes are
beginning to be executed by criminals such
as: computer fraud, tax fraud, and bank fraud
These crimes are being executed by means of
technology which makes it much harder to be
caught and prosecuted by law enforcement

Conclusion

Organized crime will remain

a problem, regardless of
the efforts made by law
enforcement
All people want the same
thing: power, money and
security, all of which come
with organized crime
This, plus the consistent
flow of immigrants and
minority groups in the US,
organized crime will
continue to be a problem
until the end of government

Organized Crime Cartoons

As long as we are a society that rests on

greed, that neglects its poor and that
promotes materialism in the media,
organized crime in all of its aspects- no
matter what language it speaks- will continue
to plunder our nation ~ William Kleinknecht