If RICO defined crime that is only an aggravated form of the predicate offenses, no further inquiry into the state of mind issue would be necessary. However, the preferred interpretation of RICO views the statute as defining a crime distinct from and of a different kind than the crimes defined by the predicate offenses. The central issue in a RICO prosecution is not that the defendant engaged in a criminal act, since any of the predicate crimes result in punishment for individual criminal acts. The focus on RICO is on the relationship between the individual and a pattern of acts, between the individual and an enterprise, and between the pattern of racketeering acts or the debt collection and an enterprise. Each element of a RICO violation can be categorized according to conduct, existing circumstance, or result. Legal, jurisdictional, degree, and factual elements apply to existing circumstances. In general, defendants must knowingly use or invest capital directly or indirectly. They cannot be convicted as principals in the first degree for violating Section 1962(a) if, for some reason, they did not know they were using or investing capital. A total of 112 footnotes are provided; detailed description of prosecution issues as they apply to each section of RICO are included.