NY Penal Law § 460.22: Aggravated enterprise corruption

Designed to address the problem of organized crime in New York, the enterprise corruption statute describes a type of serious crime that involves not one criminal offense, but individuals working for an enterprise and being engaged in a series of crimes. For example, if a securities firm systematically defrauded its clients by issuing false account statements, pocketing unearned commissions, and issuing improper disclosures, and the employees of that firm intentionally participated in the fraud, then those employees could be prosecuted for enterprise corruption. There are 2 enterprise corruption offenses in New York: enterprise corruption and aggravated enterprise corruption. Aggravated enterprise corruption is the more serious of the two crimes. Under New York Penal Law § 460.20 you could be prosecuted for enterprise corruption if you knowingly are employed by a criminal enterprise and you:

1. Intentionally participate in the criminal activity of the enterprise,
2. Intentionally acquire any interest or control of an enterprise by conducting criminal activity, or
3. Participate in a pattern of criminal activity and knowingly invest proceeds from the conduct into an enterprise.

Criminal activity is defined as at least 3 criminal acts, 2 of which must be felonies. One of the felonies must have been committed within 5 years of when the criminal acts began and each of the criminal acts must have occurred within 2 years of the prior criminal act.

Under New York Penal Law § 460.22, the crime will be raised to aggravated enterprise corruption if:

1. Two or more of the crimes are Class B felonies or higher, and at least 2 of the crimes are armed felonies, or
2. One crime is an armed felony and one a violations of § 2 of the criminal possession of a disposable weapon statute, or
3. One crime is a Class B violent felony and 2 crimes are violations of § 2 of the criminal possession of a disposable weapon statute.

1. Enterprise corruption: New York Penal Law § 460.20

Aggravated enterprise corruption is a very complicated crime. In order to successfully prosecute you the prosecutor must prove every element of the offense. This means, for example, that if you accused of committing 2 Class B armed felonies you can successfully defend an aggravated enterprise corruption charge if you can successfully defend at least one of those charges.

Aggravated enterprise corruption is a Class A-I felony. The maximum prison sentence is life.

A person is guilty of aggravated enterprise corruption when he or she commits the crime of enterprise corruption and two or more of the acts that constitute his or her pattern of criminal activity are class B felonies or higher, and at least two acts are armed felonies as defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision forty-one of § 1.20 of the criminal procedure law or one act is such an armed felony and one act is a violation of subdivision two of § 265.17 of this chapter or one act is a class B violent felony and two are violations of subdivision two of § 265.17 of this chapter.

Because of the seriousness of the charge of aggravated enterprise corruption, if you are charged with this crime it is critical that you are represented by someone who has experience. If you are convicted of aggravated enterprise corruption you could be sentenced to life in prison. The staff at Stephen Bilkis & Associates, PLLC has years of experience successfully defending clients in New York criminal courts who have been charged with crimes such as enterprise corruption, as well as murder, assault, kidnapping, and drug crimes. Contact us at 800.696.9529 to schedule a free, no obligation consultation regarding your case. We serve those accused of enterprise corruption in the following locations: