The federal conspiracy statute, 18. U.S.C. 371 is the staple of federal prosecutors in most criminal cases that involve more than one defendant. In a very simple way, federal conspiracy is an agreement between several persons to commit any federal crime, sort of a partnership in criminal purposes.

The conspiracy charge is widely used in all sorts of federal prosecutions, from narcotics distribution crimes to white-collar fraud crimes. It is relatively easy for the government to prove that conspiracy took place because the statute does not require that the substantive crime was actually committed, only that there was an agreement to commit the crime. What’s more, the conspiracy charge will stand even if it was impossible for co-conspirators to commit the crime.

But the most dangerous and over-reaching feature of the federal conspiracy statute is that it punishes a person for the criminal actions of all members of the conspiracy, even if the defendant had no knowledge of them. By way of an example, a defendant agrees with a co-defendant to distribute 1 kilo of narcotics, being unaware that the co-defendant is part of a larger conspiracy to distribute 500 kilos. The defendant could be held liable for the actions of the entire group and be charged with conspiracy to distribute 500 kilos.