Source: cases/18usc1962/f3d-932-242-us-v-mathis.case
Case source: https://www.neochart.com/catalog/cases/f3d/volume_932/0242_01/index.html
The Supreme Court has explained that an "association-in-fact enterprise" must have "at least three structural features: a purpose, relationships among those associated with the enterprise, and longevity sufficient to permit these associates to pursue the enterprise's purpose."
Here, the government presented sufficient evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude that DNGS was an "enterprise," within the meaning of the RICO statute.
We conclude that the government sufficiently established a "pattern of racketeering activity."
These facts strongly support the jury's conclusion that Halisi and Stokes were actively involved in the RICO conspiracy conducted by DNGS, including the robberies committed by the capital defendants and others.
casedsl 1.2 # author: Flash1 (gemini-3.8-flash-high) # triaged-by: Fable (2026-11-10) case /f3d/932/0242-01 name United States v. Mathis cite 932 F.3d 242 (2019) court United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit date 2019-07-31 url catalog/cases/f3d/volume_932/0242_01/index.html source ir/caselaw/f3d_932.jsonl sha1=814857c97af28b68a13bd8234d4774182952277a chars=60000 opinion op : majority by Keenan @0..60000 controlling ? opinion: IR text is capped at 60000 chars (cut inside the appended footnotes); footnotes @56686.. belong to the same opinion party defs : the six defendants (Halisi, Stokes, Kweli, Mersadies, Shantai, Mathis), members of the Double Nine Goon Syndikate (DNGS) set of the Bloods party hs : Halisi Uhuru and Anthony Stokes, founders and leaders of DNGS count c1 : Count 1 RICO conspiracy, § 1962(d) theory t1 : sufficiency of the evidence law 18usc1962 (d) role applied posture criminal; members of a street-gang set convicted by a jury of RICO conspiracy under § 1962(d) and related VICAR, witness-tampering, obstruction and § 924(c) offenses; CA4 upheld the RICO conspiracy convictions against sufficiency challenges, vacated only § 924(c) counts predicated on Virginia kidnapping, and remanded for resentencing result claimant-won element enterprise : satisfied [proved] decider jury review affirmed route association-in-fact pattern street-gang set with insignia, rules, regular meetings, mutual protection and a ranked leadership council party defs count c1 theory t1 fact @30283..30492 [supports] | DNGS members received tattoos and wore red clothing signifying their membership in the gang, congregated regularly at membership meetings, and had a set of governing rules that members were expected to follow. fact @30493..30657 [supports] | Members shared a common function and purpose, namely, to enrich members of the gang by "putting in work" through the commission of violent crimes and selling drugs. fact @30960..31064 [supports] | And here, the government's evidence established that DNGS had a clearly delineated leadership structure. rule @29754..30031 | The Supreme Court has explained that an "association-in-fact enterprise" must have "at least three structural features: a purpose, relationships among those associated with the enterprise, and longevity sufficient to permit these associates to pursue the enterprise's purpose." held @30117..30282 | Here, the government presented sufficient evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude that DNGS was an "enterprise," within the meaning of the RICO statute. gloss Sufficiency upheld: the gang set was an association-in-fact enterprise under Turkette/Boyle; its hierarchy, though not required, was additional evidence. element pattern.relatedness : satisfied [proved] decider jury review affirmed route _whole pattern twelve gang crimes by shifting combinations of members sharing purposes and violent methods party defs count c1 theory t1 fact @32422..32529 [supports] | The government introduced evidence of twelve racketeering acts leading up to Quick's kidnapping and murder. fact @32600..32752 [supports] | Those crimes shared the common purpose of enriching DNGS members, bolstering the gang's reputation for violence, or evading law enforcement authorities. fact @32753..32868 [supports] | In committing these crimes, the defendants employed firearms, threats of physical force, and actual physical force. rule @31917..32142 [quoted] | Racketeering acts are related if they "have the same or similar purposes, results, participants, victims, or methods of commission, or otherwise are interrelated by distinguishing characteristics and are not isolated events." held @32327..32421 | We conclude that the government sufficiently established a "pattern of racketeering activity." gloss Defendants argued their crimes were unplanned and spontaneous; the court treated only the relatedness prong as in issue and found it met. element conspiracy : satisfied [proved] decider jury review affirmed route agreement pattern gang founders and leaders who directed the enterprise without personally committing the robberies party hs count c1 theory t1 fact @34265..34317 [supports] | Both men were the enterprise's founders and leaders. fact @34318..34461 [supports] | Both defendants had a central role in directing the enterprise, which required its members to commit crimes for the gang's welfare and support. fact @35516..35709 [supports] | Halisi and Stokes ordered the destruction of, or directly destroyed, evidence related to Quick's murder, including Quick's ATM card, the murder weapon, and the phones belonging to DNGS members. rule @33727..33898 [quoted] | "[A] defendant can conspire to violate RICO and violate [ Section] 1962(d) without himself committing or agreeing to commit the two or more acts of racketeering activity." held @34462..34672 | These facts strongly support the jury's conclusion that Halisi and Stokes were actively involved in the RICO conspiracy conducted by DNGS, including the robberies committed by the capital defendants and others. gloss Salinas: a conspirator need only agree to pursue the enterprise's criminal objective; drug trafficking and post-murder obstruction were held to be racketeering acts within the conspiracy.