Picture a boy, maybe 15 or so, selling drugs or stealing cars or breaking into a department store and running out with everything he can get his hands on.
That kid is committing crimes, right?
Now, picture a different kid doing the same stuff. But instead of pocketing his illegal earnings he turns it over to a third party, a presumably older and more powerful person, someone who might do him or his family harm if that money isn’t paid.
And, legally speaking, he, too, is committing crimes.
