## Facts

- Federal prosecutors charged Mongol Nation, an unincorporated association of “full-patch” members of the Mongols motorcycle gang, under RICO, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961–1968.
- The indictment alleged the Mongols Gang operated as a violent, drug-trafficking RICO enterprise.
- The government identified Mongol Nation as the RICO “person” and the Mongols Gang as the RICO “enterprise.”
- The charging theory treated Mongol Nation as a subset of the broader Mongols Gang, which also included additional categories of participants beyond full-patch members.
- Mongol Nation moved to dismiss, arguing the indictment failed RICO’s person–enterprise distinctness requirement under 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c).
- The district court granted the motion, concluding Mongol Nation and the Mongols Gang were effectively the same entity for § 1962(c) purposes.

## Issues

1. Whether a RICO indictment sufficiently pleads § 1962(c) distinctness when the alleged RICO “person” is an association comprised of full-patch members and the alleged “enterprise” is the broader gang including those members and other participants.
2. Whether overlapping membership between the alleged RICO “person” and “enterprise” requires dismissal at the pleading stage.

## Decision

- The Ninth Circuit reversed the dismissal of the indictment and remanded for further proceedings.
- The court held the indictment adequately alleged that the RICO enterprise was broader than the RICO person because it included participants who were not part of Mongol Nation.
- The court rejected the view that overlap alone collapses the “person” and “enterprise” into the same entity for § 1962(c).

## Legal Principles

- Section 1962(c) requires a “person” distinct from the “enterprise” whose affairs the person is alleged to conduct through a pattern of racketeering activity.
- Distinctness may be satisfied where the alleged enterprise includes additional actors beyond the alleged person, even if membership overlaps.
- At the pleading stage, an indictment sufficiently alleges distinctness when it describes the “enterprise” as a broader collectivity than the “person,” rather than merely renaming the same entity.

## Conclusion

The Ninth Circuit reinstated the RICO indictment because it plausibly alleged a distinct RICO “person” (Mongol Nation as a subset association) and a broader RICO “enterprise” (the Mongols Gang including additional participants), satisfying § 1962(c) at the pleading stage.


United States v. Mongol Nation, 693 F. App’x 637 (9th Cir. 2017)