Conspiracy against the United States

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Conspiracy against the United States, or conspiracy to defraud the United States,

conspire to commit an offense against the United States, or to defraud
the United States.

Statute

18 U.S.C. § 371 provides that:

If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose, and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. If, however, the offense, the commission of which is the object of the conspiracy, is a misdemeanor only, the punishment for such conspiracy shall not exceed the maximum punishment provided for such misdemeanor.[5]

History and interpretation

In the 1924 case

Hammerschmidt v. United States, the Supreme Court of the United States, in an opinion authored by Chief Justice William Howard Taft, held that "To conspire to defraud the United States means primarily to cheat the government out of property or money, but it also means to interfere with or obstruct one of its lawful governmental functions by deceit, craft or trickery, or at least by means that are dishonest."[6]

The

front company to gain federal subcontracts for bridge construction meant for disadvantaged businesses was convicted under this section.[7][8]

The statute has been used in a wide variety of contexts; it is "a common federal charge, mainly because it can target a wide range of conduct and can be tacked on to other charges."

Jeff Skilling.[10]

In 2018,

investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller.[12] Gates also pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements,[13] and Manafort also pleaded guilty to one count of witness tampering.[14]

References

  1. ^
    United States Attorneys' Manual
    .
  2. ^ 14 Stat. 484, 18 Stat. 1055
  3. ^ 35 Stat. 1096
  4. ^ 62 Stat. 701, 18 U.S.C. § 371
  5. ^ 18 U.S.C. § 371.
  6. ^ Hammerschmidt v. United States, 265 U.S. 182 (1924).
  7. ^ Nicole Narea, Pa. Biz Owner Cops To $1M Bridge Contract Fraud Scheme, Law360 (October 31, 2017).
  8. ^ Rick Shrum, Eighty Four businessman pleads guilty in bridge subcontracting case, Observer-Reporter (October 31, 2017).
  9. ^ a b Charges May Pressure Ex-Trump Manager to Cooperate-Lawyers, Reuters (October 30, 2017).
  10. ^ What is 'conspiracy against the United States'?, BBC News (October 30, 2017)
  11. ^ Breuninger, Kevin (February 23, 2018). "Former Trump campaign official Rick Gates pleads guilty to lying and conspiracy against the US". CNBC. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
  12. ^ What is "conspiracy against the United States"? CBS News (October 30, 2017).
  13. ^ Breuninger, Kevin (February 23, 2018). "Former Trump campaign official Rick Gates pleads guilty to lying and conspiracy against the US". CNBC. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
  14. ^ Polantz, Katelyn (September 14, 2018). "Paul Manafort pleads guilty and agrees to cooperate with Mueller investigation". CNN. Retrieved September 14, 2018.

Further reading

See also

Cheating the public revenue

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