# Was A Corrupt Politician Ever prosecuted under "RICO"?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-corrupt-politician-ever-prosecuted-under-rico/381978
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [November 27, 2006, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-corrupt-politician-ever-prosecuted-under-rico/381978 "2006-11-27T20:22:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2006, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-corrupt-politician-ever-prosecuted-under-rico/381978/1 "2006-11-27T20:22:04Z")
The “Racketeering and Corrupt organization” laws have been a boon for prosecutors of organized crime. prosecutors like Rudi Giuliani were able to put scores of criminals in jail, using this law. my question; corrupt political machines seem to share a lot with organizations like the Mafia-they extort money, commit fraud, and rob taxpayers, So, can RICO be used against corrupt politicians? take the crew that run the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority: they operate just like the mafia. Could these acts be prosecutable under RICO?
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### Author:  [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2006, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-corrupt-politician-ever-prosecuted-under-rico/381978/2 "2006-11-27T20:47:27Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Former Illinois Governor Ryan Receives 66-Month Sentence
>
> Former Illinois Governor George Ryan was sentenced to serve 6 and one-half years in federal prison for his convictions on corruption and RICO charges following a seven-month trial. The charges related to conduct when Ryan was the Illinois Secretary of State and involved gifts related to the issuance of drivers licenses and other government contracts.
[http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/whitecollarcrime\_blog/corruption/index.html](http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/whitecollarcrime_blog/corruption/index.html)
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### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2006, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-corrupt-politician-ever-prosecuted-under-rico/381978/3 "2006-11-27T20:49:33Z")
There are two that I know about off the top of my head. [Vincent “Buddy” Cianci](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Cianci,_Jr) is the former mayor of Providence, RI and was convicted of racketeering a few years ago and is now doing time in federal prison.
Former Louisiana governor, [Edwin Edwards](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Edwards) was also convicted of racketeering a few years ago and is also doing time in the federal prison system.
Politicians in the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and related entities likely have not been convicted due simply to budgetary constraints on the number of cells that can be built in a short amount of time.
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### Author:  [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2006, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-corrupt-politician-ever-prosecuted-under-rico/381978/4 "2006-11-28T01:18:54Z")
James Traficant was tried in 1983 in a RICO prosecution in which he successfully defended himself, but was later convicted in 2002.
> [@](#):
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> Traficant was convicted of numerous felonies, including conspiracy to defraud, bribery, illegal gratuity, obstruction of justice, filing a false tax return and conspiracy under the RICO, or racketeering, statutes.
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### Author:  [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2006, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-corrupt-politician-ever-prosecuted-under-rico/381978/5 "2006-11-28T04:56:35Z")
I can assure you I’ve never sat on any corrupt politicians in my life.
Carry on…
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### Author:  [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2006, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-corrupt-politician-ever-prosecuted-under-rico/381978/6 "2006-11-28T06:36:12Z")
And why not? :dubious: