Every request for approval of a proposed prosecution under section 1959 must be accompanied by a final draft of a proposed indictment and by a thorough prosecution memorandum. The prosecution memorandum should generally conform to the standards outlined for RICO prosecutions. See JM 9-110.400. The memorandum must contain a concise summary of the facts and a statement of the evidentiary basis for each count, a statement of the applicable law, a discussion of anticipated defenses and unusual legal issues (federal, and where applicable, state), and a statement of justification for using section 1959. It is especially important that the memorandum include a discussion of the nexus between the enterprise and the crime of violence, the defendant's relationship to the enterprise, and the evidentiary basis for each section 1959 count. Submission of a thorough memorandum is particularly important, because of the complexity of the issues involved and because of the statute's similarity to RICO. VCRS maintains sample prosecution memoranda available to Department attorneys.

[updated January 2020]