RICO laws: Arizona's RICO law

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Under the state and federal RICO laws, police agencies and prosecutors can keep confiscated property and cash linked to a variety of crimes committed for financial gain and use that money later for gang prevention, substance-abuse treatment and fighting crime.

Arizona's RICO law, based on 1970 federal legislation, was passed in 1978 and is similar to other state laws allowing agencies to seize cash and property to fund future criminal investigations and prosecutions.

Arizona's law also rewards individual departments with the proceeds from their officers' seizures instead of placing those revenues in the general fund, said James Belanger, a defense attorney who represented another suspect in the Operation High Stakes case.

The state statute also allows agencies to seize assets not directly linked to a criminal enterprise without a hearing, which leaves suspects with the burden of proving their houses, cars and bank accounts aren't the product of criminal activity - something that's difficult to do when funds to hire a lawyer are frozen.

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RICO law criticized as open to abuse