Animal Rights Extremists Charged With RICO and Conspiracy

    VIENNA, Va., Aug. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Feld Entertainment,
 Inc., which produces Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey(R), today filed a
 lawsuit against the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
 Animals (ASPCA) and a number of other animal rights organizations charging
 them with conspiracy and numerous violations of the Federal Racketeer
 Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).
 
     The RICO lawsuit is a direct result of the discovery of more than one
 hundred thousand dollars in regular payments to Tom Rider, a plaintiff in
 litigation filed by various animal rights groups against Feld Entertainment
 in 2000. The lawsuit alleges that Rider, a former Feld Entertainment
 employee, and the other activist defendants engaged in a pattern of
 racketeering activity consisting in part of payments to Rider through an
 organization controlled by the activist defendants' lawyers. The lawsuit
 alleges that under RICO, these payments constituted bribes and illegal
 gratuity payments. The lawsuit further alleges that the defendants took
 actions to conceal their conduct.
 
     Feld Entertainment's lawsuit sets forth the alleged facts in detail. In
 addition to the claim that Rider is a "paid plaintiff," the lawsuit alleges
 that the defendants committed various illegal acts, including bribery,
 obstruction of justice, wire fraud and mail fraud, making them all subject
 to the federal RICO statute.
 
     "This lawsuit is a direct result of the animal rights extremists'
 agenda to deny families in the United States entertainment choices like the
 circus and their ongoing conspiracy to harm Feld Entertainment," stated
 Stephen Payne, a spokesperson for Feld Entertainment. "The 65-page
 complaint speaks for itself and documents the RICO violations that Feld
 Entertainment has alleged. Feld Entertainment looks forward to proving to a
 jury the magnitude and scope of the defendants' conduct."
 
     The defendants named in the lawsuit include the ASPCA, the Animal
 Welfare Institute (AWI), The Fund for Animals (FFA), the Animal Protection
 Institute (API), the Wildlife Advocacy Project (WAP) and Tom Rider.
 
     Feld Entertainment is the world's leading producer of live family
 entertainment. The company's spectaculars have toured in 178 US cities, 50
 countries and on six continents, and are seen by millions of people each
 year. In 1995, Feld Entertainment established the Ringling Bros. and Barnum
 & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation(R), a state-of-the-art facility
 which has become a recognized leader in the conservation, study and care of
 the endangered Asian elephant.
 
     More information about Feld Entertainment is available online at
 http://www.feldentertainment.com. Additional information on the company's
 conservation efforts and the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant
 Conservation can be found at http://www.elephantcenter.com. For more
 information please contact the media hotline at (703) 448-4120.
 
 
 
 

SOURCE Feld Entertainment, Inc.