632 F.

2d 896

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee,

v.
Novia TURKETTE, Jr., Defendant-Appellant.
UNITED STATES of America, Appellee,
v.
John VARGAS, Defendant-Appellant.
Nos. 79-1545, 79-1546.

United States Court of Appeals,

First Circuit.
Argued June 6, 1980.
Decided Sept. 23, 1980.

Alfred Paul Farese, Everett, Mass., for appellant, Novia Turkette, Jr.
John Wall and Harry C. Mezer, Boston, Mass., with whom Cullen & Wall,
Boston, Mass., was on brief, for appellant, John Vargas.
William C. Bryson, Atty., Dept. of Justice, Boston, Mass., with whom
Edward F. Harrington, U. S. Atty., Martin D. Boudreau, Sp. Atty., Boston,
Mass., and Joel M. Gershowitz, Atty., Dept. of Justice, were on brief, for
appellee.
Before COFFIN, Chief Judge, BOWNES, Circuit Judge and BOYLE,*
District Judge.
BOWNES, Circuit Judge.

This appeal raises, for the first time in this circuit, the issue of whether Title IX
of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, Pub.L. 91-452, 84 Stat. 941, 18
U.S.C. 1961-68 (1970), authorizes the prosecution of individuals for
engaging together in a series of criminal acts unrelated in any way to any
legitimate business organization. RICO, an acronym for "Racketeer Influenced
and Corrupt Organizations," was designed to break the stranglehold of
racketeers on legitimate businesses and unions. We must determine whether the
government's use of RICO in this case exceeded its statutory scope and purpose.

In Count Nine of a nine-count indictment, defendants-appellants Novia

Turkette, Jr.,1 John Vargas, and eleven others2 were charged with conspiring to
"conduct, and participate directly and indirectly, in the conduct of the affairs of
(an) enterprise, which would engage in, and the activities of which would affect
interstate commerce, through a pattern of racketeering activity." The indictment
alleged that the defendants were associated with each other and with an
enterprise whose purpose was illegal trafficking in drugs, committing arson and
insurance fraud, influencing the outcome of state trials, and bribing police
officers. These crimes, as well as participation in the conduct of the enterprise
through acts of racketeering, were alleged as acts in furtherance of the
conspiracy.3 Count One charged Turkette and nine co-defendants with
distribution and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.
Counts Two through Five charged arson-for-profit schemes devised by Turkette
and Vargas. Counts Six and Seven charged Turkette and codefendant Fraher
with arson of an automobile and insurance fraud. Count Eight charged a similar
scheme involving Turkette and codefendant Brown.4

Convicted by a jury on all nine counts, Turkette was sentenced to serve

consecutive terms of twenty years on the substantive counts. A twenty-year
concurrent term and a $20,000 fine were imposed on Count Nine, the RICO
conspiracy count. On appeal, he alleges that his motion for acquittal on the
RICO count was improperly denied; that the trial court erred in denying his
motions for relief from prejudicial joinder and severance; and that it erred in
allowing Vargas to admit into evidence, over Turkette's objection, certain
photographs seized from his home by the government.

Vargas repeatedly moved for acquittal on the RICO count and for severance,
claiming lack of evidence linking him to the RICO conspiracy as the basis of
misjoinder. At the close of the government's case, the RICO conspiracy charge
against him was dropped. His motions for severance, however, were denied.
The jury found him guilty of one count of mail fraud. He was acquitted of
participation in the second mail fraud scheme. Vargas' main contention to this
court is that the legal theory upon which the government predicated its RICO
indictment was incorrect.

The validity of Count Nine of the indictment depends upon the interpretation of
two provisions of RICO. Count Nine, section 1-O, alleges that "(d) efendants
were associated with an 'enterprise' as defined in Title 18, United States Code,
Section 1961(4) ...." Count Nine, section 2, charges defendants with conspiring
to violate Title 18, United States Code, Section 1962(c). 18 U.S.C. 1961(4)
defines "enterprise":

6
"enterprise"
includes any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other
legal entity, and any union or group of individuals associated in fact although not a
legal entity(.)
18 U.S.C. 1962(c) makes it unlawful
7 any person employed by or associated with any enterprise engaged in, or the
for
activities of which affect, interstate or foreign commerce, to conduct or participate,
directly or indirectly, in the conduct of such enterprise's affairs through a pattern of
racketeering activity or collection of unlawful debt.
8

The government's position is that the broad definition of enterprise in 1961(4)

brings within the proscription of 1962(c) any individual or group of individuals
who engage in a pattern of racketeering activity. Since the evidence here
showed such a pattern5 by the defendants, the statute, it is argued, therefore,
applies to them.

Defendants' argument goes beyond the words of these two sections of RICO.
Their position is that the Act was intended to protect legitimate business
enterprises from being preyed upon and taken over by racketeers. RICO does
not apply, they argue, to individuals whose only enterprise activity is
completely criminal. Although it would be easy to dismiss out-of-hand an
argument that asks us to exempt criminal activity from prosecution, we must
examine the statute and its legislative history.

10

We first look at the other substantive sections of 18 U.S.C. 1962. Section

1962(a)6 provides that no person may use racketeering income to acquire any
interest in any enterprise engaged in or which affects interstate commerce, and
imposes a strict limitation on the use of such income to purchase securities on
the open market. Acquisition of any enterprise through a pattern of racketeering
activity is prohibited by 1962(b).7 These two subsections make sense only if
the protected "enterprise" is legitimate. If section 1962(c) is interpreted as the
government urges, then it is at odds with (a) and (b).8

11

A careful reading of sections 1961(4) and 1962(c) convinces us that they

cannot be used as tandem springboards to reach any individual or groups of
individuals who engage in a pattern of exclusively criminal racketeering
activity. Each specific enterprise enumerated in section 1961(4) is a legitimate
one. Under the principle of ejusdem generis, the final catch-all phrase "any ...
group of individuals associated in fact ..." should also be limited to legitimate
enterprises. If the Congress had intended to include "criminal enterprises" in

the definition section, it would have done so. Contrary to the plain meaning of
section 1961(4), the government uses the word "any" to engraft into the section
a phrase that is not there: "enterprise includes" wholly criminal activity.
12

If we give section 1962(c) the construction urged by the government, it

becomes internally redundant and important phrases are rendered superfluous.
If "a pattern of racketeering" can itself be an "enterprise" for purposes of
section 1962(c), then the two phrases "employed by or associated with any
enterprise" and "the conduct of such enterprise's affairs through (a pattern of
racketeering activity)" add nothing to the meaning of the section. The words of
the statute are coherent and logical only if they are read as applying to
legitimate enterprises.

13

This is confirmed by the fact that RICO, in addition to establishing substantive

crimes for underworld attacks on legitimate businesses, provides civil remedies
designed to rehabilitate victimized enterprises and protect them from further
depredations. The remedies available include divestiture, dissolution,
reorganization and restrictions on future activities and investments by the
racketeer. 18 U.S.C. 1964(a). Treble damages are also available to "(a)ny
person injured in his business or property by reason of a violation of section
1962 ...." 18 U.S.C. 1964(c).

14

Viewed in its entirety, RICO is a combination of criminal sanctions and civil

remedies designed to protect legitimate commercial enterprises from the
onslaught of racketeers and provide a means of repairing the effects of such
incursions.

15

Our interpretation of "enterprise" to mean only a legitimate enterprise is

reinforced by the legislative history of RICO. More than a decade ago,
Congress decided that organized crime posed such a grave threat to society that
only new, more stringent legislation could ameliorate the situation. The
problem was multifaceted. Large-scale gambling, narcotics traffic, and
loansharking were found to be the primary sources of organized crime's illicit
revenues;9 extortion, murder, and arson, inter alia, were its modus operandi.
Congress pinpointed problems of proof-particularly weaknesses in evidencegathering methods and the reluctance, predicated on fear, of witnesses to testify
against organized criminals-as the major reason why most organized crime
participants went unpunished.10 Financial and physical incursions by racketeers
into legitimate businesses and unions had become "one of the Nation's most
serious criminal justice and economic problems."11 After almost two years of
debate, drafting, and revision, it enacted the eleven titles of the Organized
Crime Control Act of 197012 which contained a wide range of procedures

designed to enhance the gathering and admissibility of evidence. These include

provisions for special grand juries authorized to report on organized crime and
law enforcement corruption;13 a witness immunity program;14 recalcitrant
witness provisions;15 and increased penalties for certain habitual offenders.16
The Act created a new federal offense designed to "strike at organized crime's
principal source of revenue: illegal gambling."17 Participation by five or more
persons in a gambling business with $2,000 in daily revenues for more than
thirty days became a federal crime.18 RICO (Title IX) is an integrated whole
within this comprehensive legislation.
16

The purpose of RICO was the "elimination of the infiltration of organized crime
and racketeering into legitimate organizations operating in interstate
commerce."19 It was found that there were three methods used by organized
criminals to attain ownership, control, and operation of legitimate businesses,
associations, and unions. (1) After establishing a financial base with monies
obtained from gambling, narcotics trade, and myriad other criminal acts, the
racketeer invests that money in legitimate enterprises. (2) Racketeering
methods are used by one acting outside the enterprise to gain control of it. This
includes the use of extortion to acquire a partnership or stockholder interest in a
concern, "insurance" protection, and illicit stock ownership, sale, and
manipulation. (3) Legitimate businesses are corrupted by employees, associates
of trade groups, or union members who use racketeering practices to acquire
control or conduct the legitimate business through illegitimate means.

17

The Senate Judiciary Committee cited encroachments upon such diverse fields
of endeavor as jukebox and vending machine distribution, laundry services,
food wholesaling, banking, insurance, entertainment industries, and stock
exchanges, among others, as illustrative of the scope of the problem.20 Senator
McClellan, one of the sponsors, detailed the means by which organized
criminals gain control of businesses and unions. His remarks illuminate the
nature of criminal activity that RICO was intended to curb.

18 corrupt and violent methods by which organized crime members conduct their
The
gambling and loansharking operations are adapted as means of acquiring and
operating businesses. Threats, arson and assault are used to force competitors out of
business and obtain larger shares of the market. Building contractors pay tribute for
the privilege of using non-union labor, while labor unions infiltrated by organized
crime raise no objection. A corporation is bled of its assets, goods obtained by the
corporation on credit are sold for a quick profit, and then the corporation is forced
into bankruptcy while the criminals who infiltrated it disappear. Large sums in
stocks and bonds are stolen from brokerage houses and banks, and then used as
collateral to obtain loans. Income routinely is understated for tax purposes, so that

mob businesses have competitive advantages over businesses which report all their
income. These methods and others give such a competitive advantage to the mob
enterprise that monopoly power is approached or gained, and prices are raised.21
19

Against this backdrop, Congress enacted the tripartite prohibitions of 18 U.S.C.

1962(a), (b), and (c), fashioned "to block the infiltration of racketeers into
legitimate operations ...."22 (emphasis added).

20

The following summary of RICO issued by the Justice Department aptly

describes the legislative intent; the second paragraph states the purpose of
1962(c).

21 IX is designed to inhibit the infiltration of legitimate business by organized

Title
crime, and, like the previous title (illegal gambling), to reach the criminal syndicates'
major sources of revenue. In addition to creating offenses punishable by the
traditional criminal sanctions of fine and imprisonment, the proposed statute would
also authorize civil remedies modeled upon those found in the antitrust laws.
22 conduct of the affairs of a business, by a person acting in a managerial capacity,
The
through racketeering activity is also proscribed.
23 proposal appears to cover most of the methods through which La Cosa Nostra
The
customarily infiltrates and operates legitimate business enterprises.23
24

(emphasis added).

25

What emerges from RICO's legislative history is that Congress believed it was
enacting a new federal crime, that of interference with legitimate enterprises by
racketeers and racketeering methods.24 There is nothing suggesting that it was
also legislating against criminal enterprises. The House floor debates on the
Organized Crime Control Act is devoid of anything indicating that any member
of Congress thought RICO would reach anything but legitimate businesses.
Representative Poff, the floor manager for the bill, stated:

26
(P)erhaps
the single most alarming aspect of the organized crime problem in the
United States in recent years has been the growing infestation of racketeers into
legitimate business enterprises .... Title IX of S.30 provides the machinery whereby
the infiltration of racketeers into legitimate businesses can be stopped and the
process reversed when such infiltration does occur.
27

116 Cong.Rec. 35,295 (1970). (emphasis added).

28

In its statement of purpose, the Senate report is unequivocal: "(Title IX) has as
its purpose the elimination of the infiltration of organized crime and
racketeering into legitimate organizations operating in interstate commerce."
Senate Comm. On The Judiciary, Report On Organized Crime Control Act of
1969, S.Rep.No. 617, 91st Cong., 1st Sess. 76 (1969). A section discussing
organized crime's penetration of legitimate business follows the statement of
purpose.

29

The focus on legitimate enterprises was emphasized when the House of

Representatives rejected a proposed amendment adding a fourth substantive
prohibition to section 1962-membership in a Mafia or La Cosa Nostra
organization. The amendment defined the groups as "nationally organized
criminal groups composed of persons of Italian ancestry forming an underworld
government ruled by a form of board of directors, who direct or conduct a
pattern of racketeering activity and control the national operation of a
monopolistic trade restraining criminal conspiracy."25 (emphasis added).
Similar legislation introduced several years earlier was also rejected. At that
time, the attorney general advised against enactment because, inter alia,

30principal purpose of S.2187 as I understand it is to deprive the leaders of the

A
Mafia and of similar syndicates of the service of the underlings through whom they
operate. That objective can I hope be achieved through the continued use of such
statutes as 18 U.S.C. 371, which makes it unlawful to conspire to violate any law,
and 18 U.S.C. 1952 which outlaws interstate travel in aid of racketeering
enterprises.26
31

A comparison if RICO's legislative history with that of 18 U.S.C. 1955,

outlawing illegal gambling businesses, shows that Congress knew how to draft
legislation which would make the operation of an illegitimate enterprise a
federal offense.

32more effective effort must be mounted to eliminate illegal gambling. In that effort
A
the Federal Government must be able not (only) to deny the use and facilities of
interstate commerce to the day-to-day operations of illegal gamblers-as it can do
under existing statutes-but also to prohibit directly substantial business enterprises of
gambling ....27
33

(emphasis added ). The absence of any corresponding language in RICO's

legislative history is not happenstance. Defining RICO to include wholly illegal
enterprises would obviate or render redundant a significant part of the illegal
gambling statute, passed at the same time as RICO, both parts of the Organized
Crime Control Act of 1970. 18 U.S.C. 1955 extends federal criminal

jurisdiction to illegal gambling businesses. The definition of illegal gambling is

very specific. It means a gambling business which
34

(i) is a violation of the law of a State or political subdivision in which it is

conducted;

35

(ii) involves five or more persons who conduct, finance, manage, supervise,
direct or own all or part of such business; and

36

(iii) has been or remains in substantially continuous operation for a period in

excess of thirty days or has a gross revenue of $2,000 in any single day.

37

18 U.S.C. 1955(b). If RICO can be applied to any series of criminal acts, as

the government urges, it would encompass, inter alia, the commission within a
ten-year period of any two acts of gambling affecting interstate commerce, thus
allowing the complete circumvention of the gambling statute's tightly drawn
limitations.

38

It must also be pointed out that the Drug Abuse, Prevention and Control Act,
passed on October 27, 1970, twelve days after RICO, contains a specific
section, 21 U.S.C. 848, aimed at continuing criminal enterprises involving
traffic in narcotics. The Congress carefully defined what it means to be engaged
in a continuing criminal enterprise.28 Here, also, the e government's definition
of RICO allows it to swallow the continuing criminal enterprise section of the
Drug Abuse, Prevention and Control Act.

39

Congress wanted to eliminate organized crime. But RICO was only one arm of
a broadbased attack. It was intended to accomplish the distinct purpose of
"dislodg(ing) the forces of organized crime from legitimate fields of
endeavor."29 It was not intended to be used against the wholly criminal
enterprise.

40

This analysis comports with that of RICO's sponsor, Senator McClellan. "Title
IX is aimed at removing organized crime from our legitimate organizations."
McClellan, The Organized Crime Control Act, 46 Notre Dame Law. 55, 141
(1970).

41

This background casts grave doubts on the government's simplistic and literal
interpretation of 18 U.S.C. 1961(1) and 1962(c). Under the government's
interpretation, the concept of "enterprise" is entirely eliminated from this

section of the statute. If we follow the government's rationale, one or more

individuals can be prosecuted under 1962(c) for engaging in a "pattern of
racketeering activity" which affects interstate commerce. "Pattern of
racketeering activity" is defined as
42least two acts of racketeering activity, one of which occurred after the effective
at
date of this chapter and the last of which occurred within ten years (excluding any
period of imprisonment) after the commission of a prior act of racketeering
activity(.)
43

18 U.S.C. 1961(5). Racketeering activity covers a multitude of state and

federal crimes. 18 U.S.C. 1961(1).30 This means, if we accept the
government's logic, that one individual who commits two of the crimes defined
in 1961(1) within a ten-year period can be prosecuted for violating RICO as
well as for the substantive crimes themselves. Although it is an extreme
example, there could be a RICO prosecution against a prostitute for two acts of
solicitation within the ten-year period, if she travels interstate in plying her
trade. The individual, by commission of the predicate substantive crimes,
becomes an "enterprise."

44

We are also troubled by the fact that, under the government's proposed use of
RICO, federal jurisdiction is extended to practically every criminal activity
affecting interstate commerce. Since the crimes encompassed by "racketeering
activity" specifically cover state crimes, the federal government has a powerful
tool for injecting itself into the area of state law enforcement. The government's
reading of RICO renders it essentially equivalent to a traditional state
conspiracy statute so long as the interstate commerce and two acts within tenyear provisions are satisfied. This gives the federal government a powerful tool
for usurping a significant province of state criminal jurisdiction. While the
government's use of RICO may be an effective way of fighting organized
crime, it should not be undertaken without, at least, some evidence that the
Congress recognized RICO's potential for use in this way when it passed the
Act. There is no indication in the legislative history that the Congress realized
that RICO might result in such a deep incursion into the field of state and local
law enforcement.

45

We realize that our interpretation as to the scope of RICO is contrary to current

case law in those other circuits that have considered this issue. In the Fourth
and Fifth Circuits, unanimous panels have declared unequivocally that RICO's
umbrella covers purely criminal enterprises. United States v. Whitehead, 618
F.2d 523 (4th Cir. 1980) (prostitution ring); United States v. Diecidue, 603 F.2d
535 (5th Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 946, 100 S.Ct. 1345, 63 L.Ed.2d 781

(1980) (enterprise's scope included robbery, counterfeiting, illegal use of

explosive, and murder); (Godbold, J. dissenting, would reverse because RICO
conspiracy indictment insufficient); United States v. Elliott, 571 F.2d 880 (5th
Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 953, 99 S.Ct. 349, 58 L.Ed.2d 344 (1978) (multiple
forms of racketeering); United States v. Malatesta, 583 F.2d 748 (5th Cir.
1978), modified in banc on other grounds, 590 F.2d 1379, cert. denied, 440
U.S. 962, 99 S.Ct. 1508, 59 L.Ed.2d 777 (1979) (narcotics ring); United States
v. Morris, 532 F.2d 436 (5th Cir. 1976) (gambling operation). But see United
States v. McLaurin, 557 F.2d 1064 (5th Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1020,
98 S.Ct. 743, 54 L.Ed.2d 767 (1978) (panel holding a prostitution ring
constituted an enterprise indicated that it was compelled to follow the circuit's
per se rule absent a "clearer and fuller directive from the Court" or an in banc
opinion reversing its earlier position). While the Second, Seventh and Ninth
Circuits have espoused the view that an association of criminals is prohibited
under section 1962(c), each has done so with one judge vigorously dissenting.
United States v. Aleman, 609 F.2d 298 (7th Cir. 1979) (Swygert, J., dissenting),
cert. denied, 445 U.S. 946, 100 S.Ct. 1345, 63 L.Ed.2d 780 (1980) (home
robbery); United States v. Rone, 598 F.2d 564 (9th Cir. 1979) (Ely, J.,
dissenting), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 946, 100 S.Ct. 1345, 63 L.Ed.2d 780 (1980)
(murderers and extortionists); United States v. Altese, 542 F.2d 104 (2d Cir.
1976) (Van Graafiland, J., dissenting), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 1039, 97 S.Ct.
736, 50 L.Ed.2d 750 (1977) (gambling). The Sixth Circuit had adopted the
"legitimate enterprise" view with one judge dissenting in United States v.
Sutton, 605 F.2d 260 (6th Cir. 1979) (Engel, J., dissenting) (opinion withdrawn
and petition for rehearing in banc granted ) (1980). The in banc opinion in
Sutton has not yet been released.31
46

Although the Supreme Court has not yet addressed the issue directly, it has
indicated that our construction of the statute is not aberrational. Interpreting the
gambling provisions of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, the Supreme
Court noted that Title IX (RICO) "seeks to prevent the infiltration of legitimate
business operations affecting interstate commerce by individuals who have
obtained investment capital from a pattern of racketeering activity." Iannelli v.
United States, 420 U.S. 770, 787 n.19, 95 S.Ct. 1284, 1294, 43 L.Ed.2d 616
(1975).

47

Our examination of the roots of the current case law finds them shallow and
infirm. One of the tap root cases is United States v. Cappetto, 502 F.2d 1351
(7th Cir. 1974), cert. denied, 420 U.S. 925, 95 S.Ct. 1121, 43 L.Ed.2d 395
(1975). Cappetto involved a civil injunction action under section 1964 to
restrain the operation of an illegal gambling business. Stating that Congress
intended a broad application of "enterprise," the Seventh Circuit could find

nothing in sections 1962(b) or (c) which would remove an illegitimate

enterprise from the statute's scope. Id. at 1358. The Fifth Circuit cited the broad
language of Cappetto when it construed an illegal gambling business as an
enterprise for purposes of section 1962(c) in United States v. Hawes, 529 F.2d
472 (5th Cir. 1976). Hawes, however, involved several legitimate enterprises
which distributed legal and illegal coin-operated electric machines to legitimate
bars and social clubs. The operation of the businesses was within the ambit of
RICO. Because the defendants argued that their legitimate enterprises were
illegitimate, it is unclear on what theory of enterprise the case turned.
Nevertheless, Hawes provided the cornerstone for the line of Fifth Circuit cases
which hold that a criminal enterprise is proscribed by RICO. See cases cited
supra.
48

The prevailing case law starts with the premise that a combination of criminals
associated to further acts of racketeering constitutes an enterprise and that such
enterprise falls within the ambit of sections 1961(4) which defines enterprise as
"any ... association in fact" and 1962(c) to which the 1961(4) definition applies.
The statute's use of "any," plus the failure of RICO to distinguish between
legitimate and illegitimate enterprises, according to the cases, precludes
exclusion of illegitimate associations from the concept of enterprise. United
States v. Rone, 598 F.2d at 568; United States v. Altese, 542 F.2d at 106. We
think this dragnet use of the word "any" obscures the critical issue: the proper
scope of "enterprise" in the context of the statute as a whole and its legislative
history. To support their construction, most of the cases point to a clause in
Title IX which provides that its provisions should "be liberally construed to
effectuate its remedial purposes." But this was directed at the "full panoply of
civil remedies" that Title IX "brings to bear on the infiltration of organized
crime into legitimate business or other organization."32 To this extent, Title IX
"is remedial rather than penal."33 The civil remedies, not the criminal sanctions,
should be liberally construed. To hold otherwise violates the principle that
"ambiguity concerning the ambit of criminal statutes should be resolved in
favor of lenity." Rewis v. United States, 401 U.S. 808, 812, 91 S.Ct. 1056,
1059, 28 L.Ed.2d 493 (1971); United States v. Campos-Serrano, 404 U.S. 293,
92 S.Ct. 471, 30 L.Ed.2d 457 (1971). Nevertheless, the courts have liberally
construed "enterprise" lest they create a "loophole for illegitimate business to
escape" RICO's coverage. United States v. Altese, 542 F.2d at 106-07.

49

We think that the courts' natural antipathy to organized crime has clouded their
perception of RICO, its purpose, and legislative history. What seems to be
overlooked is that persons who participate in an illegitimate enterprise will not
escape punishment for their criminal activities if they are properly indicted and
tried for these acts. Each act of racketeering delineated in section 1961(1), as

well as conspiracy to commit such crimes, are already criminal acts under
federal or state statutes, or both. We need not distort a statute in order to
properly prosecute criminals. RICO was not enacted as an offensive weapon
against criminals, but as a shield to thwart their depredations against legitimate
business enterprises.
50

For the foregoing reasons, we hold that the RICO indictment in this case was
invalid.

51

We now consider the effect of this ruling on the defendants. Turkette and
Vargas maintain that they were improperly joined in the indictment and, hence,
improperly joined for trial because the crimes with which they were charged
did not form a "series of acts or transactions" in accordance with the precepts of
Fed.R.Crim.P. 8(b).34 It is claimed that the evidentiary spillover from one crime
to another, and from defendant to defendant, was inherently prejudicial. Vargas
also claims that the trial judge erred in refusing to sever his case from
Turkette's because Vargas' participation in mail fraud was unrelated to
Turkette's participation in drugstore burglaries. Because most of the testimony
at trial pertained to Turkette's activities, Vargas argues that the evidence which
was introduced to prove the series of narcotics violations was highly prejudicial
to him. Vargas points to the dismissal, at the close of the government's case, of
the RICO conspiracy count against him as signifying improper joinder and
erroneous refusal to sever.

52

Guilt is both individual and personal. Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750,
773, 66 S.Ct. 1239, 1252, 90 L.Ed. 1557 (1946). Thus, a defendant charged
with committing multiple crimes is entitled to a separate trial for each crime
that is not "substantially part of the same transaction," McElroy v. United
States, 164 U.S. 76, 17 S.Ct. 31, 41 L.Ed. 355 (1896); one accused with others,
has "the right not to be tried en masse for the conglomeration of distinct and
separate offenses committed by others(.)" Kotteakos, supra, 328 U.S. at 775, 66
S.Ct. at 1253. Nevertheless, joinder of offenses or parties has the salutory effect
of promoting judicial economy. Fed.R.Crim.P. 8 balances the competing
considerations of the benefit to the court, prosecution, and the public with the
presumptive prejudice inherent in the consolidation of parties or offenses by
permitting joinder if certain requirements are met. Rule 8 "set the limits of
tolerance" beyond which the danger of prejudice outweighs the benefit, and any
joinder which does not fall within Rule 8 "is per se impermissible." 35 King v.
United States, 355 F.2d 700, 703 (1st Cir. 1966). Rule 8(a)36 governs the
joinder in an indictment of multiple offenses charged against a single defendant.
The gravamen of joinder under Rule 8(a) is similarity or interrelatedness of
offenses. Although, on its face, Rule 8(a) is not confined to single-defendant

indictments, most courts have taken the position that it is so limited and, where
more than one defendant is involved, Rule 8(b) alone provides the appropriate
standards for joinder. United States v. Roselli, 432 F.2d 879, 898 (9th Cir.
1970), cert. denied, 401 U.S. 924, 91 S.Ct. 883, 27 L.Ed.2d 828 (1971); Cupo
v. United States, 359 F.2d 990, 992 (D.C. Cir. 1966), cert. denied, 385 U.S.
1013, 87 S.Ct. 723, 17 L.Ed.2d 549 (1967); King, supra, 355 F.2d at 704; 1 C.
Wright, Federal Practice and Procedure 144 (1969 & Supp.1978).
53

Because the instant case commenced with a multiparty indictment, joinder, if

proper, must be predicated upon Rule 8(b). The provisions of 8(b), which focus
on identity of parties and relatedness of offenses, provide:

54 or more defendants may be charged in the same indictment or information if

Two
they are alleged to have participated in the same act or transaction or in the same
series of acts or transactions constituting an offense or offenses. Such defendants
may be charged in one or more counts together or separately and all of the
defendants need not be charged in each count.
55

Viewed in its entirety, the instant indictment shows some identity of defendants
because Turkette is named in all nine counts. Two separate genres of criminal
activity, drug-related offenses and arson-mail fraud, comprise the eight
substantive counts. Count Nine, the RICO conspiracy charge, alleged that the
substantive offenses were perpetrated as part of an overall scheme to conduct a
criminal enterprise through these and other criminal acts. "A conspiracy count
can be a sufficient connecting link between codefendants and separate
substantive offenses to permit their joinder in a single indictment (.)" United
States v. Luna, 585 F.2d 1, 4 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 852, 99 S.Ct.
852, 58 L.Ed.2d 157 (1978). Here, however, we have found the conspiracy
count to be invalid.

56
Where,
however, the defendant can show that the charge of a joinder of defendants
in conspiratorial action is based on a legal interpretation that is improper, the court
cannot base its 8(b) ruling on the written words alone but must determine if, under
correct legal theory, joint action was actually involved.
57

United States v. Levine, 546 F.2d 658, 663 (5th Cir. 1977). We must, therefore,
determine whether, absent the RICO conspiracy count, the joinder was proper
under Rule 8(b). This depends upon whether the defendants participated in the
same series of acts.

58

Rule 8(b) does not explicate the meaning of "series." In King, we said that it is
something more than mere "similar acts." 355 F.2d at 703. Cases construing

8(b) indicate that some relatedness between offenses is necessary for there to be
a series of acts or transactions. See, e. g., United States v. Weisman, 624 F.2d
1118 (2d Cir. 1980) (continuing crimes committed in theatre operation
commenced with fraudulent sales of stock in 1973 and ended with bankruptcy
fraud five years later; bankruptcy fraud participant properly joined with those
who had previously committed acts of racketeering in operation of theatre
because acts charged constituted a series of acts or transactions); Williams v.
United States, 416 F.2d 1064 (8th Cir. 1969) (kidnapping in furtherance of
attempt to avoid apprehension for first kidnapping was part of a series of
interrelated crimes); United States v. Baker, 393 F.2d 604 (9th Cir.), cert.
denied, 393 U.S. 836, 89 S.Ct. 110, 21 L.Ed.2d 106 (1968) (receiving,
concealing, and converting stolen goods parts of a series); Scheve v. United
States, 184 F.2d 695 (D.C. Cir. 1950) (assault committed in course of running
an illegal gaming table and illegal gambling same series of acts). See also
United States v. Ritch, 583 F.2d 1179 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 970, 99
S.Ct. 463, 58 L.Ed.2d 430 (1978) (under Rule 8(a), bail jumping from drug
charges and drug charges themselves joinable because one stemmed from the
other).
59

Relatedness of offenses can be established by demonstrating that essentially the

same facts must be shown for each of the consolidated crimes. As Judge
Aldrich wrote in King,

60

However, Rule 8(b) is not limited to situations in which proof of the other
criminal transaction would be admissible in a separate trial. It goes beyond, to
others, the excuse being the benefit to the court. But to offset the prejudice
where multiple defendants are being joined even though they did not engage in
a joint act, such as conspiracy, Kitchell v. United States, 1 Cir., 1965, 354 F.2d
715, this possibility of benefit should explicitly appear from the indictment or
from other representations by the government before trial. Classic examples of
such a benefit are when there is an overlapping of issues, as, for example, when
some defendants are charged with transporting stolen goods in interstate
commerce, and others are charged with receiving the goods, so stolen and
transported. Kitchell v. United States, supra; Caringella v. United States, 7 Cir.,
1935, 78 F.2d 563, or when defendants are charged with conspiracy to conceal
a crime that part of their number are charged with committing, United States v.
Perlstein, 3 Cir., 1941, 120 F.2d 276 (rev'g on other gr'ds), 2nd convictions
aff'd, 1942, 126 F.2d 789, cert. den. 316 U.S. 678, 62 S.Ct. 1106, 86 L.Ed.
1752. Where, however, there are no presumptive benefits from joint proof of
facts relevant to all the acts or transactions, there is no "series," Rule 8(b)
comes to an end, and joinder is impermissible. United States v. Spector, 7 Cir.,
1963, 326 F.2d 345, 350; McElroy v. United States, 1896, 164 U.S. 76, 81, 17

S.Ct. 31, 41 L.Ed. 355.

61

355 F.2d at 704. (footnote omitted.) If the factual matrices of the alleged facts
are different, there is no series and, hence, no joinder. See, e. g., United States
v. Gentile, 495 F.2d 626 (5th Cir. 1974) (proof for sale of PCP entirely different
from that for LSD transaction); United States v. Marionneaux, 514 F.2d 1244
(5th Cir. 1975) (two separate conspiracies to obstruct justice, albeit involving
the same case, not a series because each conspiracy had different participants).

62

We, therefore, must examine the evidence to determine whether the facts
necessary to show a series of drug related transactions were also required to
prove the series of arson-mail frauds.

Narcotics Offenses
63

From March, 1977, to April, 1978, Novia Turkette, Kenneth Landers, and
Edward Young, an original defendant, jointly robbed eighteen pharmacies in
Boston or its environs, employing the same modus operandi for each robbery.
After arrival at a targeted store in Young's station wagon, Turkette would
disengage the burglar alarm system and return to Young's car to listen for word
on a police scanner that the alarm had short-circuited. Once they felt assured
that the alarm had not alerted the police, Young and Landers would force an
entry into the drugstore. They would then fill duffel bags with those drugs
designated by Young as having a high "street" resale value, and, on occasion,
with money and non-pharmaceutical merchandise. Turkette would continue to
monitor the scanner and survey the immediate area for police activity, often
calling the intruders from a telephone booth to check on their progress or
inform them if policemen were in the area. After sequestering the drugs and
burglar tools in a deep well in Young's station wagon, the trio would sort and
inventory the drugs, generally at Young's house, and determine each person's
share of the heist. The drugs were then distributed to pushers for cash or on
consignment. According to Landers, defendant Kamens, the owner of the
Modern Alarm Company, accompanied Turkette and Young on several
occasions to pharmacies whose alarms were maintained by Modern. Kamens
disconnected the alarms so that they would not ring into the police stations. In
addition, Kamens agreed to ignore alarms of certain drug stores when they rang
in his office so that Turkette, Landers, and Young could break into the stores
without fear of discovery.

Arson-Mail Fraud
64

The proof relative to Count Two, the one on which Vargas was found guilty,

was as follows. Vargas and George Papamichael owned two adjacent new, but
unsold, modular homes in Groveland, Massachusetts. In June, 1977, Landers
arrived at Turkette's house where he observed Turkette talking outside with
Vargas. Turkette told Landers that Vargas was interested in having some
property burned and Landers agreed to drive with Vargas to the property at a
later date. Shortly thereafter, Landers and Vargas drove to the Groveland
property. Vargas instructed Landers to burn only the house on the right.
Turkette gave Landers $50 to purchase incinerants and Landers set fire to the
house that night, destroying it completely. Vargas paid Landers $1,000 which
Landers split with Turkette. Vargas collected $22,000 from his insurer. The
United States Mails were used in processing the insurance claim.
65

Landers testified that, in September, 1977, Vargas asked him to destroy a house
in Middleton, Massachusetts. Vargas showed the property to Landers and gave
him the house and burglar alarm keys. He instructed Landers to burn the house
in October when the residents, Mr. and Mrs. Santos, would be on vacation.
Landers hired Gordon Wren, not named in the indictment, to incinerate the
house. The two drove to the location. Wren set the fire which activated smoke
detectors, and Landers fled. According to Landers, Vargas later paid him
$1,000 out of which he paid Wren $250. Turkette's share was $300.

66

Charles Werner, a Peabody policeman posing as a corrupted officer, recorded

conversations with Turkette which detailed the Middleton fire. The jury could
infer from these tapes that Turkette was hired by the husband of defendant
Santos to destroy the Middleton property.

67

In December, 1977, Turkette acquired an MGB automobile from his cousin,

one Schiazza. The car was to be registered and insured by Phil Fraher, one of
the original defendants. Title could not be obtained, however, until an
outstanding mortgage of $1,000 was repaid. Turkette gave Fraher ten bottles of
liquid Dilaudid to sell in order to obtain the money necessary to repay the loan.
The testimony is unclear whether Fraher actually completed this transaction.
Turkette kept the vehicle for several months, but had to have it repaired
frequently. He decided to destroy it. Fraher was directed to pretend he had
driven the car to work and report it stolen at the end of his shift. In the
meantime, Turkette, Landers, and one Cliffie Teague pushed the car into a
parking lot where Teague burned it. Fraher filed an insurance claim through the
mail.

68

Thomas Brown, one of the original defendants, owed Turkette $3,500. He also
owned an uninsured late-model Buick which a friend of his had damaged in an
accident. Turkette arranged to have the car disappear after Mildred Parrish,

Brown's sister, insured the auto. Parrish, through use of the mails, executed an
insurance claim on behalf of Brown. The money was used to repay the debt
Brown owed Turkette.
Conclusion
69

Our review of the transcript shows that the narcotics violations evidence was
unnecessary to prove the arson-mail fraud and vice versa. There was, thus, no
presumptive benefit to the government in the consolidation of the two different
sets of criminal activity. Accordingly, "there is no 'series,' Rule 8(b) comes to
an end, and joinder is impermissible." King, supra, 355 F.2d at 704.

70

This case points up another infirmity in the government's interpretation of

RICO: it avoids the strictures of Rule 8(b). By inserting the RICO conspiracy
charge, the government consolidated in one indictment acts and transactions
which otherwise could not have been joined.

71

Our ruling as to RICO makes it unnecessary to discuss the other issues raised
by defendants.

72

The Judgments are reversed and the cases remanded for new trials.

Of the District of Rhode Island, sitting by designation

Appellant Turkette's father, Novia Turkette, Sr., was charged and tried with his
son. Reflecting an effort to maintain the necessary distinction between the two
defendants, the district court record throughout refers to this appellant as
"Turkette, Jr." Because Novia Turkette, Sr. is not involved in the instant appeal,
we refer to Turkette, Jr. as "Turkette."

The other defendants named in the indictment are: Edward Young, Michael
Kamens, Novia Turkette, Sr., Gabriel DeMarco, Thomas Brown, Walter
Woodyatt, Robert Jadis, Lynn Rice, Donald Canzano, Phillip A. Fraher, Jr.,
and Richard Ferguson

Count Nine of the indictment concludes with the following language: "All in
violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1961, 1962(d), and 1963."
We note that 18 U.S.C. 1961 is a definitional section containing no
proscriptive language. Section 1963 imposes criminal penalties for violation of
section 1962. No acts are made criminal by section 1963

Seven defendants entered guilty pleas prior to trial. Trial commenced with six
defendants. Before the close of the evidence, mistrials were granted as to two of
the codefendants who subsequently entered pleas of guilty to one count

There is no doubt that defendants' activities came within the definition of a

"pattern of racketeering activity" in 18 U.S.C. 1961(1) and (5)

18 U.S.C. 1962(a) provides:

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person who has received any income derived,
directly or indirectly, from a pattern of racketeering activity or through
collection of an unlawful debt in which such person has participated as a
principal within the meaning of section 2, title 18, United States Code, to use or
invest, directly or indirectly, any part of such income, or the proceeds of such
income, in acquisition of any interest in, or the establishment or operation of,
any enterprise which is engaged in, or the activities of which affect, interstate or
foreign commerce. A purchase of securities on the open market for purposes of
investment, and without the intention of controlling or participating in the
control of the issuer, or of assisting another to do so, shall not be unlawful under
this subsection if the securities of the issuer held by the purchaser, the members
of his immediate family, and his or their accomplices in any pattern or
racketeering activity of the collection of an unlawful debt after such purchase
do not amount in the aggregate to one percent of the outstanding securities of
any one class, and do not confer, either in law or in fact, the power to elect one
or more directors of the issuer.

18 U.S.C. 1962(b) provides:

(b) It shall be unlawful for any person through a pattern of racketeering activity
or through collection of an unlawful debt to acquire or maintain, directly or
indirectly, any interest in or control of any enterprise which is engaged in, or the
activities of which affect, interstate or foreign commerce.

The final substantive RICO crime makes it "unlawful for any person to conspire
to violate any of the provisions of subsections (a), (b), or (c) of this section." 18
U.S.C. 1962(d)

Organized Crime Control: Hearings on S.30 and related proposals. Before

Subcomm. No. 5 of the House Comm. on the Judiciary, 91st Cong., 2d Sess. 96
(1970) (statement of Senator John L. McClellan) (hereinafter cited as House
Hearings on S.30 )

10

Senate Comm. on the Judiciary, Report on Organized Control Act of 1969,

S.Rep.No. 617, 91st Cong., 1st Sess. (1969) (hereinafter cited as S.Rep.No. 91-

617)
11

House Hearings on S.30, supra, at 96 (statement of Senator John McClellan)

12

Pub. L. 91-452, 84 Stat. 922 (1970). The Organized Crime Control Act of
1969, S.30, was introduced on January 15, 1969. The bill passed the House on
September 23, 1970

13

18 U.S.C. 3333

14

Id. 18 U.S.C. 6001

15

Id. 18 U.S.C. 6003

16

Id. 3575-78

17

S.Rep.No. 91-617, supra, at 71

18

18 U.S.C. 1955

19

S.Rep.No. 91-617, supra, at 76

20

Statement in Justification: S.Rep.No. 91-617, supra, at 76-77. See also: House

Hearings on S.30, supra, at 106: "Involvement of La Cosa Nostra leaders in
legitimate businesses has become the rule rather than the exception."
(statement of Senator John L. McClellan)

21

House Hearings on S.30, supra, at 106 (statement of Senator John L.

McClellan)

22

H.R.Rep.No. 1549, 91st Cong., 2d Sess. 57 (1970)

23

House Hearings on S.30, supra, at 170 (Department of Justice comments on

S.30)

24

Id. at 662-63 (testimony of Assistant Attorney General Will Wilson)

25

116 Cong.Rec. 35343 (1970) (amendment of Representative Biaggi)

26

116 Cong.Rec. 35344 (1970) (remarks of Attorney General Nicholas

Katzenbach)

27

S.Rep.No. 91-617, supra, at 73

28

21 U.S.C. 848(b) provides:

(b) For purposes of subsection (a) of this section, a person is engaged in a

continuing criminal enterprise if-(1) he violates any provision of this subchapter or subchapter II of this chapter
the punishment for which is a felony, and
(2) such violation is a part of a continuing series of violations of this subchapter
or subchapter II of this chapter-(A) which are undertaken by such person in concert with five or more other
persons with respect to whom such person occupies a position of organizer, a
supervisory position, or any other position of management, and
(B) from which such person obtains substantial income or resources.
29

S.Rep.No. 91-617, Supra, at 79

30

18 U.S.C. 1961(1) provides:

any act or threat involving murder, kidnaping, gambling, arson, robbery,
bribery, extortion, or dealing in narcotic or other dangerous drugs, which is
chargeable under State law and punishable by imprisonment for more than one
year; (B) any act which is indictable under any of the following provisions of
title 18, United States Code: Section 201 (relating to bribery), section 224
(relating to sports bribery), sections 471, 472, and 473 (relating to
counterfeiting), section 659 (relating to theft from interstate shipment) if the act
indictable under section 659 is felonious, section 664 (relating to embezzlement
from pension and welfare funds), sections 891-894 (relating to extortionate
credit transactions), section 1084 (relating to the transmission of gambling
information), section 1341 (relating to mail fraud), section 1343 (relating to
wire fraud), section 1503 (relating to obstruction of justice), section 1510
(relating to obstruction of criminal investigations), section 1511 (relating to the
obstruction of State or local law enforcement), section 1951 (relating to
interference with commerce, robbery or extortion), section 1952 (relating to
racketeering), section 1953 (relating to interstate transportation of wagering
paraphernalia), section 1954 (relating to unlawful welfare fund payments),
section 1955 (relating to the prohibition of illegal gambling businesses),
sections 2314 and 2315 (relating to interstate transportation of stolen property),
sections 2341-2346 (relating to trafficking in contraband cigarettes), sections
2421-24 (relating to white slave traffic), (C) any act which is indictable under
title 29, United States Code, section 186 (dealing with restrictions on payments
and loans to labor organizations) or section 501(c) (relating to embezzlement
from union funds), or (D) any offense involving fraud connected with a case
under title 11, fraud in the sale of securities, or the felonious manufacture,

importation, receiving, concealment, buying, selling, or otherwise dealing in

narcotic or other dangerous drugs, punishable under any law of the United
States; ...(.)
31

The District of Columbia Circuit quoted the broad language employed by

several other circuits in United States v. Swiderski, 593 F.2d 1246 (D.C. Cir.
1978), cert. denied, 441 U.S. 933, 99 S.Ct. 2056, 60 L.Ed.2d 662 (1979).
Factually, Swiderski differs from the case at bar because there, a legitimate
business, a restaurant, was owned and run by racketeers who used it to shield a
cocaine smuggling operation. The restaurant was the enterprise
The government informs us that United States v. Manchester, 605 F.2d 1198
(3d Cir. 1979) (table), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 945, 100 S.Ct. 1344, 63 L.Ed.2d
780 (1980), is a table affirmance of a conviction under RICO for engaging in a
wholly unlawful enterprise.

32

S.Rep.No. 91-617, supra, at 81

33

Id. at 82

34

Fed.R.Crim.P. 8(b) provides:

(b) Joinder of Defendants. Two or more defendants may be charged in the same
indictment or information if they are alleged to have participated in the same
act or transaction or in the same series of acts or transactions constituting an
offense or offenses. Such defendants may be charged in one or more counts
together or separately and all of the defendants need not be charged in each
count.

35

Although a line of cases has developed which stands for the proposition that
Rule 8 misjoinder can be harmless, see, e. g., United States v. Martin, 567 F.2d
849 (9th Cir. 1977); Baker v. United States, 401 F.2d 958 (D.C. Cir.), cert.
denied, 393 U.S. 836, 89 S.Ct. 110, 21 L.Ed.2d 106 (1968); United States v.
Granello, 365 F.2d 990 (2d Cir. 1966), cert. denied, 386 U.S. 1019, 87 S.Ct.
1367, 18 L.Ed.2d 458 (1967), the traditional view set forth originally in
McElroy v. United States, 164 U.S. 76, 17 S.Ct. 31, 41 L.Ed. 355 (1896), that
misjoinder is prejudicial per se has its adherents. See, e. g., United States v.
Nettles, 570 F.2d 547 (5th Cir. 1978); United States v. Whitehead, 539 F.2d
1023 (4th Cir. 1976); Metheany v. United States, 365 F.2d 90 (9th Cir. 1966);
Cupo v. United States, 359 F.2d 990 (D.C. Cir. 1966), cert. denied, 385 U.S.
1013, 87 S.Ct. 723, 17 L.Ed.2d 549 (1967); King v. United States, 355 F.2d
700 (1st Cir. 1966)

36

Fed.R.Crim.P. 8(a) provides:

(a) Joinder of Offenses. Two or more offenses may be charged in the same
indictment or information in a separate count for each offense if the offenses
charged, whether felonies or misdemeanors or both, are of the same or similar
character or are based on the same act or transaction or on two or more acts or
transactions connected together or constituting parts of a common scheme or
plan.