Fulton County DA Fani Willis Relies on RICO Law in Charging Trump and Allies
Fani Willis, the District Attorney for Fulton County in Atlanta, is employing a specific facet of Georgia state law in the charges brought against former President Donald Trump and his associates. This approach involves the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute, which permits prosecutors to target criminal enterprises and is more comprehensive than the federal RICO law.
The federal RICO law was enacted to combat organized crime activities such as money laundering, bribery, and drug trafficking. Georgia’s version extends its scope to encompass attempts or solicitations of these crimes.
Willis is adept at utilizing RICO, evident in her office’s extensive RICO charges against a gang accused of targeting celebrities and upscale homes in Atlanta for a robbery spree last year.
RICO serves as a comprehensive tool for prosecutors to provide a holistic perspective. Willis elaborates, “We use it as a tool so they can have all the information they need to make a wise decision. The reason that I am a fan of RICO is I think jurors are very, very intelligent.”
Her innovative application of RICO includes prosecuting a group of Atlanta educators implicated in a far-reaching cheating scandal.
Notably, in addition to the 2020 election interference case, Willis is simultaneously prosecuting Atlanta-based hip-hop artist Young Thug and others, asserting that his record label, Young Slime Life, constitutes a criminal organization.