Continuing-unit requirement for association-in-fact enterprise

AND · 18usc1962:enterprise.continuing-unit

Associates must function as a continuing unit over time rather than committing isolated, uncoordinated offenses.

Exact element source

any enterprise

Source: docroot/ir/usc/title18.jsonl#title18_sec1962; Unicode character offsets [500:514] (end exclusive); SHA-256 6caae47f43b5ab0899b660616e298363bd36f9f540d915c2be11eb7126f5e27d.

Routes and case patterns

Curated routes and observed case patterns
Route	Definition	Merits instance blocks	Distinct merits cases	Examples (up to 3 cases per count group)
_whole accepted; 2 observed cases	The element is decided as a whole: the reasoning turns on no narrower doctrinal sub-question that distinguishes it from any other application of this element.	2 Satisfied 1; not satisfied 1; excluded context 0	2	Seville Industrial Machinery Corp. v. Southmost Machinery Corp. — 567 F. Supp. 1146 (1983) · United States District Court for the District of New Jersey · 1983 — not · pleaded (18usc1962: author: Fable · not independently reviewed) · applied/merits · counted Pattern: continuing-unit/no-common-purpose-or-roles-alleged Chang v. Chen — 80 F.3d 1293 (1996) · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 1996 — satisfied · pleaded (18usc1962: author: Fable · historical QA: PASS (QA2, neov2/qa/cases-QA2.md) · changed after review; current content not independently reviewed) · applied/merits · counted Pattern: continuing-unit/same-participants-repeated-transactions

How courts decided this element

Annotation blocks, including explicitly excluded context
Case	Element	Holding and scope	Pattern	Exact source quotations
Seville Industrial Machinery Corp. v. Southmost Machinery Corp. — 567 F. Supp. 1146 (1983) · United States District Court for the District of New Jersey · 1983 — not · pleaded (18usc1962: author: Fable · not independently reviewed)	Continuing-unit requirement for association-in-fact enterprise	not Counted merits instance applied / merits basis: pleaded; claim: (b),(c),(d)	continuing-unit/no-common-purpose-or-roles-alleged	Plaintiff merely alleges that from May 1981 to the date of the complaint, the defendants conspired to defraud plaintiff in connection with the title, purchase, shipment, and sale of plaintiff’s industrial machinery. Source: `docroot/ir/caselaw/f_supp_567.jsonl#/f-supp/567/1146-01`; Unicode character offsets [16774:16989] (end exclusive); SHA-256 `3836bc32665b8e1a72ea181c77043419d514089c013853f5fc10624d665e146c`. Evidence kind: fact; polarity: supports; absent flag: 0; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged) Nor does plaintiff allege the individual roles that each of the defendants played within the enterprise. Source: `docroot/ir/caselaw/f_supp_567.jsonl#/f-supp/567/1146-01`; Unicode character offsets [16669:16773] (end exclusive); SHA-256 `3836bc32665b8e1a72ea181c77043419d514089c013853f5fc10624d665e146c`. Evidence kind: fact; polarity: cuts-against; absent flag: 1; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged) The Court explained that each person must perform a role in the group which is consistent with the enterprise’s organizational structure and which furthers the activities of the organization. Source: `docroot/ir/caselaw/f_supp_567.jsonl#/f-supp/567/1146-01`; Unicode character offsets [16272:16463] (end exclusive); SHA-256 `3836bc32665b8e1a72ea181c77043419d514089c013853f5fc10624d665e146c`. Evidence kind: rule; polarity: not recorded; absent flag: 0; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged) This is simply not sufficient to aver a “continuing unit functioning for a common purpose.” Source: `docroot/ir/caselaw/f_supp_567.jsonl#/f-supp/567/1146-01`; Unicode character offsets [17379:17470] (end exclusive); SHA-256 `3836bc32665b8e1a72ea181c77043419d514089c013853f5fc10624d665e146c`. Evidence kind: held; polarity: not recorded; absent flag: 0; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged)
Chang v. Chen — 80 F.3d 1293 (1996) · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 1996 — satisfied · pleaded (18usc1962: author: Fable · historical QA: PASS (QA2, neov2/qa/cases-QA2.md) · changed after review; current content not independently reviewed)	Continuing-unit requirement for association-in-fact enterprise	satisfied Counted merits instance applied / merits basis: pleaded; claim: (c),(d) Turkette prong 2 met; the claim fails on prong 1 (organization/structure) alone.	continuing-unit/same-participants-repeated-transactions	The complaint described in detail three land transactions between Appellants and Appellees, and referred to twenty-eight additional transactions involving Appel-lees and buyers who are not parties to the present action. Source: `docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_80.jsonl#/f3d/80/1293-01`; Unicode character offsets [2893:3112] (end exclusive); SHA-256 `26cde6fa4ab06011a337a0eb0c4944860e40f7ebb537337a05e0b8e6b410e5bb`. Evidence kind: fact; polarity: supports; absent flag: 0; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged) establishing the existence of an associated-in-fact enterprise requires proof (1) of an ongoing organization, formal or informal, and (2) that the various associates function as a continuing unit. Source: `docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_80.jsonl#/f3d/80/1293-01`; Unicode character offsets [7959:8155] (end exclusive); SHA-256 `26cde6fa4ab06011a337a0eb0c4944860e40f7ebb537337a05e0b8e6b410e5bb`. Evidence kind: rule; polarity: not recorded; absent flag: 0; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged) The second amended complaint adequately alleged that Appellees, as associates, functioned as a continuing unit. Source: `docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_80.jsonl#/f3d/80/1293-01`; Unicode character offsets [8187:8298] (end exclusive); SHA-256 `26cde6fa4ab06011a337a0eb0c4944860e40f7ebb537337a05e0b8e6b410e5bb`. Evidence kind: held; polarity: not recorded; absent flag: 0; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged)

Court interpretations

interpretation

establishing the existence of an associated-in-fact enterprise requires proof (1) of an ongoing organization, formal or informal, and (2) that the various associates function as a continuing unit.

Chang v. Chen — 80 F.3d 1293 (1996) · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 1996 (18usc1962: author: Fable · historical QA: PASS (QA2, neov2/qa/cases-QA2.md) · changed after review; current content not independently reviewed)

establishing the existence of an associated-in-fact enterprise requires proof (1) of an ongoing organization, formal or informal, and (2) that the various associates function as a continuing unit.

Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_80.jsonl#/f3d/80/1293-01; Unicode character offsets [7959:8155] (end exclusive); SHA-256 26cde6fa4ab06011a337a0eb0c4944860e40f7ebb537337a05e0b8e6b410e5bb.

Associates must function as a continuing unit over time rather than committing isolated, uncoordinated offenses.

interpretation

The Court explained that each person must perform a role in the group which is consistent with the enterprise’s organizational structure and which furthers the activities of the organization.

Seville Industrial Machinery Corp. v. Southmost Machinery Corp. — 567 F. Supp. 1146 (1983) · United States District Court for the District of New Jersey · 1983 (18usc1962: author: Fable · not independently reviewed)

The Court explained that each person must perform a role in the group which is consistent with the enterprise’s organizational structure and which furthers the activities of the organization.

Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f_supp_567.jsonl#/f-supp/567/1146-01; Unicode character offsets [16272:16463] (end exclusive); SHA-256 3836bc32665b8e1a72ea181c77043419d514089c013853f5fc10624d665e146c.

Associates must function as a continuing unit over time rather than committing isolated, uncoordinated offenses.