Unilateral Conspiracy and Money Laundering

North Carolina is a bilateral conspiracy jurisdiction. Defining conspiracy as a combination of two or more persons to do an unlawful thing means that if the only other participant is an undercover officer or an informant – that is, one who lacks criminal intent – then there is no conspiracy. Under a new statute effective December 1, 2024, however, it is no defense to conspiracy to commit money laundering that the person with whom the defendant is alleged to have conspired was a law enforcement officer or acting at the direction of a law enforcement officer. G.S. 14-118.8(i). The new statute thus adopts the unilateral approach to conspiracy taken by the Model Penal Code and some other states. This post considers the new statute and its innovation in the law of conspiracy. Bilateral Conspiracy The crime of conspiracy was unknown to the early common law but originated with three statutes enacted during the reign of Edward I (c. 1300). 2 Wayne R. LaFave, Substantive Criminal Law, § 12.1(a) (3rd ed. 2024). By the time of the American Revolution, any agreement to commit any offense was punishable under the common law as a conspiracy. Id.; cf. State v. Arnold, 329 N.C. 128, 142, (1991) (“a common law offense”); State v. Younger, 12 N.C. 357, 358 (1827) (same). Hence, a criminal conspiracy is an agreement between two or more people to do an unlawful act or do a lawful act in an unlawful manner. State v. Winkler, 368 N.C. 572, 575 (2015). Unlike the [...]