Senate Bill S4390

                                BILL NUMBER:S4390

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the penal law, in relation to definitions of criminal
enterprise and pattern of criminal activity

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
This legislation amends subdivision 3 of § 460.10 of the Penal Law to
broaden the definition of "criminal enterprise". It further amends
paragraph (b) of subdivision 4 of § 460.10 of the Penal Law to
broaden the definition of "pattern of criminal activity".

JUSTIFICATION:
Recent case law has inappropriately narrowed New York's enterprise
corruption statute, also known by its federal counter-part, the
Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act or the RICO law.

In People v. Nappo *(Slip Op., J. Vaughn, 1/14/98), a Suffolk County
Court case, 13 men were charged with a bootlegging scheme which
brought at least 30 million gallons of untaxed gasoline from New
Jersey into New York over an 18-month period between 1994 and 1996.
The defendants made hundreds of deliveries, sometimes as many as 20 a
day. New York lost approximately 18 cents in tax revenue for each
illegally imported gallon ($5.4 million).

              

The court in Nappo ruled that although there was a criminal
structure involved in bringing illegal gasoline into the state, "in
the absence of their continuing criminal activities to allegedly
import for resale untaxed fuel, there is no structure, business,
activity or continuity of criminal purpose beyond the scope of the
criminal incidents alleged in this indictment".

The court further rules that because each pattern act is so
closely related to the single purpose of importing motor fuel
illegally into this state without paying appropriate taxes, they
must be considered part of the same criminal venture and therefore
the pattern of criminal activity as contemplated by the statute has
not been shown to exist".
As a result, Judge Vaughn ordered the enterprise corruption,
conspiracy and larceny counts dismissed.

* People v. Nappo (2d Dept. 1999) 261 A.D.2d 558, 690 N.Y.S.2d 649,

MAIN VOLUME leave to appeal granted 93 N.Y.2d 1023,
N.Y.S. 2d 582,
719 N.E.2d 943, leave to appeal granted 93 N.Y.2d 1026,697 N.Y.S.2d
585, 719 N.E.2d 946, reversed in part 94 N.Y.2d 564, 708 N.Y.S.2d 41,
729 N.E.2d 698.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
1999 Passed Senate/Assembly Codes Committee
2000 passed Senate/Assembly Codes Committee


2001 Passed Senate/Assembly Codes Committee
2002 Passed senate/Assembly Codes Committee
2003-04 Passed Senate
2005-06 Passed Senate
2007-07 Passed Senate
2009-10 Senate Codes Committee

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding
the date on which it shall have become a law.