Does a Criminal Conspiracy End Once Its Objective Has Been Frustrated by Government Intervention?
United States v. Recio et al. Docket No. 01-1184 From: The Ninth Circuit Case at a Glance The Ninth Circuit has held that a defendant may not be charged with conspiracy if he joined the charged scheme only after law enforcement had intervened, thus making the conspiracy’s objective unachievable. This limitation on the government’s ability to investigate and prosecute conspiracy offenses, imposed by the Ninth Circuit in a case arising in the context of the government’s “War on Drugs,” could impede the government’s ability to pursue the “War on Terrorism,” as well. • Previewed by Mark A. Berman, a partner at Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione, P.C., in Newark, N.J., and New York, N.Y., where his practice focuses on white-collar criminal defense and appellate litigation. He is also an adjunct professor of law at Seton Hall University Law School, where he teaches a seminar on the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
