# What is "racketeering" and why is it a distinct crime?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-racketeering-and-why-is-it-a-distinct-crime/182994
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 19, 2003, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-racketeering-and-why-is-it-a-distinct-crime/182994 "2003-06-19T19:35:46Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2003, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-racketeering-and-why-is-it-a-distinct-crime/182994/1 "2003-06-19T19:35:46Z")
Racketeering has always seemed like a really weird thing to charge someone with to me.
## [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) give the definition of racketeering as:
## rack·et·eer ( P ) Pronunciation Key (rk-tîr) n. A person who commits crimes such as extortion, loansharking, bribery, and obstruction of justice in furtherance of illegal business activities.
Aren’t these all distinct crimes already. It sounds like they are just charging someone with “Um, real bad mafia type stuff and being a naughty, naughty person.”
My question is why is racketeering a formal charge rather than a general description of behavior and why don’t they just charge someone with the actual illegal activities engaged in rather than this vague description.
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### Author:  [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2003, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-racketeering-and-why-is-it-a-distinct-crime/182994/2 "2003-06-19T19:38:19Z")
Racteering is basically organised crime.
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### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2003, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-racketeering-and-why-is-it-a-distinct-crime/182994/3 "2003-06-19T19:42:37Z")
Extortion is a crime. Bribery is a crime. Loansharking is a crime.
But it’s a separate and distinct crime to participate in an enterprise that organizes these crimes. In other words, when you take part in a group that manages and perpetrates these types of crimes, you are commiting the separate crime of racketeering.
A single instance of extortion is not a federal crime. A single instance of bribery, assuming it’s not of a federal offical or something along those lines, is not a federal crime. But the _enterprise_ that manages and controls a pattern of such crimes IS a federal crime.
- Rick