The Department of Justice is considering using a statute passed to prosecute organized crime outfits against the groups that planned the January 6th domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol, Reuters reports.

RICO, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, is used to prosecute people and groups involved in organized crime activities like murder, kidnapping, bribery and money laundering.  Prosecutors can also seek to seize assets and property that was used in crimes or obtained through racketeering.

Two sources–one currently in the DoJ and another who recently left the Department–told Reuters that the assessment of applying the law is still ongoing.  No decision has yet been made regarding if the elements of RICO have been met.

“RICO was designed to address the Godfather – the person who doesn’t get their hands bloody,” Jeffrey Grell, an attorney who specializes in RICO law, told Reuters. “You would really only use RICO to go after the kingpins or the leaders.”

The RICO statute could be applied to those who helped organize the groups that attacked the Capitol, including those who coordinated travel and lodging, as well as those who encouraged people to bring weapons or pre-planned assaults on the complex.

RICO has been used to prosecute foreign terrorist organizations like al Qaeda and domestic terrorist organizations like the Ku Klux Klan.  It could be applied to groups like the Proud Boys and the Three Percenters under this legal theory.