The RICO was so revolutionary because if you prove that there is a stable criminal organization and that the people commited crimes for the organization they can be sentenced even if they wasnt present when the crime was committed.
Scarfo was the boss,jerry angiulo runned all the patriarcas bussiness in Boston ecc for examples Nicodemo was the driver in the dipietro hit but get 25 y because was part of the philly mob.
That's true, but speaking of RICO, even though it was made in 1970, it was never used until the 80s. I think they waited until the most "untouchable" characters died and couldn't be prosecuted anymore, while their successors weren't connected and friendly with politicians and law enforcement to THAT degree as the "old-timers" (like Carlo Gambino, Stefano Magaddino, Joe Zerilli etc), therefore could be prosecuted without making too much "noise" and scandal. I may be wrong, but personally I am sure this was the reason they didn't use this law for 10 years even though they had many good opportunities. Patriarca could have been convicted during that decade, yet they never used RICO against his organization until he was dead. Even when they finally started using RICO, the most connected and "untouchable" characters that already made the right connections years or decades before, were never prosecuted. Just taking random examples: Santo Trafficante, Philip Lombardo, Tony Accardo.
