Federal Criminal Conspiracy Defense Attorney

Conspiracy occurs when two or more people have a “meeting of the minds,” or reach an agreement to commit a criminal act. Most of the cases in federal court include conspiracy charges and may be related to wire fraud, identity fraud or internet fraud, however, the most common criminal conspiracy charges relate to drugs including the manufacture, distribution, and sale of illegal substances.

Federal Prosecutors and Drug-Related Conspiracy Charges

Federal prosecutors use conspiracy charges to cast a wide net, hoping that some of those lower in rank will be willing to make a deal in exchange for information about someone higher up in the organization. Those caught up in this net, whether guilty of conspiracy or not, face serious consequences. If they are found guilty of conspiracy, these individuals face the same penalties as those who had a bigger role, such as drug sales or distribution. Also, with regard to drugs such as fentanyl, if a person dies from a drug overdose federal prosecutors are charging everyone involved with conspiracy regarding that death, no matter how removed the individual defendant was from the actual drug sale.

Defenses and Legal Representation

The potential consequences you face when charged with any type of conspiracy is serious and you need to hire an attorney who has experience defending clients in federal court. Our attorneys work with these clients every day and have we have developed specific defenses with regard to these charges, which are:  

    1. There was no conspiracy. Here we argue that you didn’t know what the other person was doing and you never conspired with them on any aspect of their illegal activities. If this person paid you money, we will work to document that the payment was for a legitimate reason that had nothing to do with their criminal activities.

    2. There was a conspiracy but you weren’t a part of it. Even if you had friends, co-workers or acquaintances who were taking part in these illegal activities, and you might even have known what they were doing, this doesn’t mean that you took any overt act that would raise your behavior to that of a co-conspirator.

    3. You had a part in the criminal activity but were unaware that your actions were illegal. This is very common in drug-related conspiracy cases and often involves drug distribution. If you hand a box or package to someone, but have no knowledge as to what was in the package, you cannot be charged in the conspiracy.

    4. You were a conspirator, but not for the crime you were charged with. Maybe you conspired to sell drugs, but you had no knowledge or activity related to the manufacture of the drugs. If you are charged with conspiracy to manufacture, we would use this other conspiracy as a defense.

In addition to an active defense, we often challenge the admissibility of co-conspirator statements. These are statements made by those who are party to the criminal activity which identifies you as a participant in the conspiracy. Our job is to litigate this issue in front of a judge, and arguing that the statement should be inadmissible because you weren’t part of the conspiracy or there wasn’t one to begin with.

Federal prosecutors charge both the innocent and guilty with conspiracy, and if you face these charges you need to hire a skilled criminal defense attorney with vast experience in federal court. I have represented hundreds of people just like you and can provide the best defense possible given your specific circumstances.