Diddy faces same charge that brought down mob bosses. What is racketeering?

USA Today

30-06-2025

Passed in 1970, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act targeting organized crime, most importantly mob bosses. Prosecutors say Diddy was the general of his own criminal organization.
As jurors deliberate the fate of Sean "Diddy" Combs, they will have to decide whether his conduct amounted to adventurous sex, as his attorneys argue, or rose to the level of racketeering, a charge usually used against violent mob organizations.
The jury is expected to begin deliberations this week after nearly two months of testimony in a New York courtroom.
Among the questions they will need to answer for a racketeering conviction: Was Combs the head of a criminal organization? Did the people in the organization commit two types of so-called "predicate acts," such as sex trafficking and obstruction of justice? And did it happen more than once?
Convicting someone on a racketeering charge is fairly simple and allows the government to seize a great deal of assets, according to experts interviewed by USA TODAY.
"Prosecutors love this statute," said B. Michael Mears, an associate professor at Atlanta's John Marshall Law School and the former head of Georgia's public defender's office. "They do overuse it because it's so easy. It's a good vehicle for the government to go in and bring down the heads of organizations."
As Combs awaits the jury's decision, here's a look at what racketeering is, what the attorneys in Combs' case say about it and how much time the rap mogul would face if he's convicted.
Racketeering, explained
Passed in 1970, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) took direct aim at organized crime. Instead of just bringing down low-level foot soldiers of a mafia organization, the new legislation allowed law enforcement to target the generals, Mears said.
"You only have to show that someone associated with the head of the criminal organization commits the crime," he said. "The criminal liability goes from the lowest rung … to the head."
The law allowed the government to take down members of the mob, like the Genovese family and John Gotti, head of the Gambino crime family. In the decades since, prosecutors have used the broad legislation against various criminal enterprises, including gangs like the Hells Angels and MS-13, corrupt officials including mayors, governors, judges, and sheriffs, white supremacists, hackers, and recording artists including R. Kelly. A criminal enterprise can be a loose association of people, it does not have to have a formal structure and it can engage in both legal and illegal activities.
"It's a very broad thing," said John Floyd, a prominent Atlanta prosecutor who tries RICO cases and says that much of the public only thinks of mobsters when it comes to racketeering. "Most folks look at this and try to latch onto something that's familiar and that becomes the Godfather, that becomes Tony Soprano."
"It covers those guys but it's not remotely limited to them," Floyd continued. "It goes beyond guys who have a bottle of Chianti on a checked tablecloth."
Diddy's prosecutors, defense attorney on racketeering charge
Using RICO law, prosecutors say that Combs used "employees, resources, and influence of the multi-faceted business empire that he led and controlled − creating a criminal enterprise" to commit crimes including sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, bribery, and obstruction of justice, according to the indictment.
The indictment says that Combs used his many businesses, including Bad Boy Records, as a criminal organization 'to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct," which included so-called "freak offs" − sometimes dayslong sex performances that federal prosecutors say were captured on video.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
"He's the general, not a foot soldier," prosecutor Maurene Comey told jurors, saying that Combs could not have engaged in the conduct he did without a great deal of help.
Another prosecutor, Christy Slavik, told jurors there is no doubt that Combs was "the head of a criminal enterprise."
"Remember, it's his kingdom," she said. "Everyone was there to serve him."
Combs' team has slammed prosecutors for over-charging the rap mogul, saying all the sex involved in the case was consensual.
'The evidence is going to show you a very flawed individual, but it will not show you a racketeer, a sex trafficker, or somebody transporting for prostitution,' Combs' attorney, Teny Geragos, told jurors during opening statements in May.
In his closing argument last week, defense attorney Marc Agnifilo said of the racketeering charge: "Are you kidding me?"
What happens if Diddy is convicted?
Combs stands to lose everything if he's convicted. A racketeering conviction alone carries a minimum prison sentence of 20 years and maximum of life behind bars.
If convicted of racketeering, the government would also be able to seize all of Combs' assets, leaving him behind bars and powerless, Mears said.
"RICO provides prosecutors with the opportunity to cut off the head of the snake," he said. "They're more concerned about the mob boss than the mobsters themselves."
Contributing: USA TODAY staff
Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter for USA TODAY. Follow her on X at @amandaleeusat.