Under 18 U.S.C. § 371, it is a crime for "two or more persons [to] conspire . . . 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."

This Article first outlines, in Section I, the basic elements of a conspiracy offense under § 371. Defenses available to challenge charges brought under the statute are discussed in Section III of the Article. Section IV presents the evidentiary and constitutional guidelines governing admissibility of co-conspirator hearsay testimony at trials involving conspiracy charges. Section V surveys various procedural and substantive rules regarding enforcement of the statute. Finally, the rules governing a conspiracy conviction under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines are reviewed in Section VI.