Organized crime in the United States

Organized crime in the United States is coordinated illegal activity carried out by durable groups that exploit illicit markets and may use violence, corruption, or intimidation.

Racketeering: A pattern of criminal activity conducted through an enterprise, often for financial gain. Federal racketeering law targets continuing criminal enterprises rather than isolated offenses.
Prohibition in the United States: The nationwide ban on alcoholic beverage production and sale from 1920 to 1933. The illegal liquor trade expanded profits and power for several urban criminal groups.
Al Capone: A Chicago crime boss who became one of the most prominent figures of Prohibition-era bootlegging. His public notoriety made him a lasting symbol of organized crime in the 1920s.
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act: A 1970 United States federal law permitting prosecution of patterns of racketeering linked to an enterprise. RICO became a central tool for prosecuting criminal organizations and their leaders.
White-collar crime: Nonviolent crime committed for financial gain by people in occupational or business settings. It can overlap with racketeering but does not require a durable criminal group.
Criminal enterprise: An organization or association whose members cooperate in repeated criminal activity. Durable groups coordinate roles and illicit activity as enterprises.
American Mafia: A network of Italian American organized-crime groups modeled partly on Sicilian Mafia traditions. It became the best-known form of organized crime in the United States.
Lucky Luciano: An Italian American mobster associated with reorganizing New York Mafia groups in the 1930s. His role is tied to the formation of a more coordinated Mafia structure.
Kefauver Committee: A United States Senate committee that investigated interstate organized crime in 1950 and 1951. Its televised hearings brought organized crime into national public debate.
Street gang: A locally based group whose members engage in criminal activity and maintain shared identity or territory. Some gangs become organized enterprises, but many lack the scale or durability associated with syndicates.

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