11th Cir. Pattern Jury Instr. (Criminal) S13.1

“Entrapment” occurs when law-enforcement officers or others under their

direction persuade a defendant to commit a crime that the defendant had no

previous intent to commit.

The Defendant has claimed to be a victim of entrapment regarding the

charged offense.

The law forbids convicting an entrapped defendant.

But there is no entrapment when a defendant is willing to break the law and

the Government merely provides what appears to be a favorable opportunity for

the defendant to commit a crime.

For example, it’s not entrapment for a Government agent to pretend to be

someone else and offer – directly or through another person – to engage in an

unlawful transaction.

So a defendant isn’t a victim of entrapment if you find beyond a reasonable

doubt that the government only offered the defendant an opportunity to commit a

crime the defendant was already willing to commit.

But if there is a reasonable doubt about whether the Defendant was willing

to commit the crime without the persuasion of a Government officer or a person

under the Government’s direction, then you must find the Defendant not guilty.