On May 24, 2012, IRLI filed a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court, requesting review of a March 24, 2012 opinion by the Third Circuit which upheld the dismissal of Delrio-Mocci v. Connolly Properties Inc., IRLI’s 2007 civil racketeering (RICO) case that seeks sanctions against a New Jersey slumlord for knowingly renting apartments to illegal aliens, which the lawsuit claims constituted conspiracy to commit the immigration crimes of harboring and encouraging and inducing. 8 U.S.C. 1324(a)(1)(A)(iii) and (iv).

The petition is No. 11-1435, Robert Bolmer et al. v. David Connolly, Dana Ayala, and Dania Molina. Click on the link below to download the petition.

The Bolmer petition represents a unique opportunity to seek Supreme Court review of the harboring and “encouraging and inducing” criminal provisions of the INA, both of which are RICO predicate crimes. Remarkably, the Supreme Court has not reviewed the federal harboring statute since 1948 and has never considered the “encouraging and inducing” statute.  Major conflicts in interpretation now exist among the appellate circuits for both crimes, and the interpretation of the two statutes by the Third Circuit is the most hostile in the nation to immigration enforcement.

This case continues to attract attention from law enforcement officials and the media. On May 17, 2012, criminal and civil charges were filed by the U.S. Attorney and also by the Securities and Exchange Commission against respondent David Connolly.  The complaints alleged "a Ponzi-like scheme" of fraud, money laundering, and securties law violations in purchasing and managing rental apartment buildings in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.