Oregon Supreme Ct - Aug. 21, 2014

by: Abassos • August 21, 2014 • no comments

Two People Committing Repeated, Coordinated Shopliftings Can Qualify As Racketeering

The definition of "Enterprise" in the Oregon RICO statute is broad enough to encompass two people who have committed three shopliftings in a coordinated way. No formal organization or structure is required. Here, defendant and another person committed three shoplifting-style thefts of more than a thousand dollars from grocery stores in different cities. The items stolen were of the sort that are commonly resold (Huggies, Tide and shrimp). "The jury in this case was entitled to infer that the three thefts, “far from being random, sporadic, or isolated,” originated from an “overarching, coordinated organizational dynamic and design.”" State v Walker, 366 Or 4 (2014).