Federal Crimes Attorney in Boca Raton, Florida
What is a federal conspiracy charge, what does the government have to prove, and what are common defenses?
What is a federal conspiracy charge, what does the government have to prove, and what are common defenses?
More In This Category
View Transcript
So, federal conspiracy is the
government’s baby, so to speak. This is
what they will do everything in their
power to build when they’re bringing
cases because they believe it’s the
easiest form of federal offense to
choose. And what it is at its core is a
criminal agreement. As far as the
specific elements, it does involve an
agreement between two or more people to
achieve an unlawful purpose. Each
individual in a conspiracy, whether it’s
two or 500 people, not every individual
in the conspiracy needs to know what
every other person within the conspiracy
is in fact doing. The agreement is
really at the heart, but the agreement
does have to have a criminal intent
behind it. In additional to the
agreement, in additional to their burden
beyond a reasonable doubt to prove
intent, criminal intent to agree with
someone to achieve an unlawful purpose,
they also have to prove that at least
one member of the conspiracy took some
form of action, only one. And that’s
called an overt act. So the conspiracy
does not have to be completed. The
government’s not required to prove that
the crime that was agreed on was ever
actually done. Only that one person took
one action in furtherance or towards
completing that conspiracy goal. Now, as
far as the potential penalties of
conspiracy, that can really range
because you can have wire fraud, health
care fraud, drug trafficking, other
controlled substance offenses, uh
solicitation of minors, child
pornography, all various types of
federal crimes can be charged as
conspiracy to commit that crime. So, it
does vary as far as the penalties
because the penalty is the same as the
underlying criminal offense that the
agreement was meant to accomplish
regardless of whether it did or not.
Boca Raton, FL criminal defense attorney David Tarras talks about federal conspiracy charges, what does the government have to prove, and what common defenses are. He explains that federal conspiracy is often considered the government’s favored charge, as prosecutors view it as one of the easiest federal offenses to pursue. At its core, conspiracy is simply a criminal agreement. Legally, it requires an agreement between two or more individuals to achieve an unlawful purpose. Importantly, each member of the conspiracy does not need to know the details of what every other participant is doing. What matters is the existence of an agreement with criminal intent.
In addition to proving intent beyond a reasonable doubt, the government must show that at least one member of the conspiracy took an action—known as an “overt act”—in furtherance of the agreement. The crime itself does not need to be completed; it is enough that a single step was taken toward carrying out the unlawful objective.
The penalties for conspiracy vary widely because the punishment aligns with the underlying offense. Conspiracy can attach to charges such as wire fraud, healthcare fraud, drug trafficking, controlled substance violations, solicitation of minors, or child pornography. Regardless of whether the intended crime was completed, the potential sentence mirrors that of the underlying offense the conspirators agreed to commit.
