In United States v. Dencklau, --- F.4th ---, No. 22-30068 (9th Cir. 2025), the Court affirmed Mark Leroy Dencklau’s and Chad Leroy Erickson’s convictions and life sentences for offenses arising from the kidnapping and murder of a former fellow member of the Gypsy Joker Motorcycle Club (GJMC).
For the most part, the opinion does not break new ground, but it does answer the question of whether a VICAR indictment must also include the elements of the predicate violent offenses. The Court held it does not.
Defendants-Appellants Mark Leroy Dencklau and Chad Leroy Erickson appeal their convictions and sentences of life imprisonment for murder in violation of the Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering statute (VICAR), 18 U.S.C. § 1959(a)(1); VICAR kidnapping resulting in death in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1959(a)(1); kidnapping resulting in death in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(1); and conspiracy to commit kidnapping resulting in death, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1201(a)(1) and (c). Dencklau was also convicted of racketeering conspiracy, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d).Our circuit has not yet ruled directly on whether a VICAR indictment must also include the elements of the predicate violent offenses. We previously have held that an indictment that tracks the charging statute is generally sufficient. See United States v. Alsop, 479 F.2d 65, 66 (9th Cir. 1973). And in United States v. Fernandez, we confirmed that an indictment that “expressly alleged the required elements” of a VICAR violation itself was “sufficient,” even where it did not allege the elements of the predicate offenses. 388 F.3d 1199, 1220 (9th Cir. 2004), modified, 425 F.3d 1248 (9th Cir. 2005). More directly, the Second Circuit has instructed that “only a generic definition of an underlying state crime is required in a RICO indictment, as distinguished from the elements of the penal codes of the various states where acts of racketeering occurred.”We are persuaded by the reasoning of our sister circuits in holding that where a VICAR indictment tracks the VICAR statute’s language, it sufficiently informs the defendant of his charge, even if it does not also enumerate the elements of the predicate state law crime, and so hold.
The opinion also briefly addresses and rejects a host of other evidentiary and instructional claims. If you have a gang RICO or VICAR case heading to trial, it is worth reading.
