11th Cir. Pattern Jury Instr. (Criminal) O13.6

18 U.S.C. § 371 (Second Clause)

It’s a Federal crime for anyone to conspire or agree with someone else to

defraud the United States or any of its agencies.

To “defraud” the United States means to cheat the Government out of

property or money or to interfere with any of its lawful governmental functions by

deceit, craft, or trickery.

A “conspiracy” is an agreement by two or more persons to commit an

unlawful act. In other words, it is a kind of partnership for criminal purposes.

Every member of the conspiracy becomes the agent or partner of every other

member.

The Government does not have to prove that all the people named in the

indictment were members of the plan, or that those who were members made any

kind of formal agreement. The heart of a conspiracy is the making of the unlawful

plan itself, so the Government does not have to prove that the conspirators

succeeded in carrying out the plan.

The Government does not have to prove that the members planned together

all the details of the plan or the “overt acts” that the indictment charges would be

carried out in an effort to commit the intended crime.

The Defendant can be found guilty of this crime only if all the following

facts are proved beyond a reasonable doubt:

(1) Two or more people in some way agreed to try to accomplish a

shared and unlawful plan;

(2) the Defendant knew the unlawful purpose of the plan and willfully

joined in it;

(3) during the conspiracy, one of the conspirators knowingly engaged

in at least one overt act described in the indictment; and

(4) the overt act was knowingly committed at or about the time

alleged and with the purpose of carrying out or accomplishing

some object of the conspiracy.

An “overt act” is any transaction or event, even one which may be entirely

innocent when viewed alone, that a conspirator commits to accomplish some

object of the conspiracy.

A person may be a conspirator even without knowing all the details of the

unlawful plan or the names and identities of all the other alleged conspirators.

If the Defendant played only a minor part in the plan but had a general

understanding of the unlawful purpose of the plan – and willfully joined in the plan

on at least one occasion – that's sufficient for you to find the Defendant guilty.

But simply being present at the scene of an event or merely associating with

certain people and discussing common goals and interests doesn't establish proof of

a conspiracy. Also a person who doesn't know about a conspiracy but happens to

act in a way that advances some purpose of one doesn't automatically become a

conspirator.