What does 'Criminal Conspiracy' entail?

• A. An agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime.
• B. A single person planning a crime.
• C. A social club with no criminal intent.
• D. A plan to commit a non-criminal act.

Answer: (A)

Criminal conspiracy is centered on the agreement between two or more people to commit a crime and the intent to carry it out. The key idea is that the offense is about the meeting of minds and the purposeful agreement to pursue a criminal objective, not about whether the crime is ever actually completed. In many cases, proof of an overt act toward the crime further supports the conspiracy, but the core element is the collaborative intent to commit a crime. That’s why the description of an agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime best fits what conspiracy entails. Planning by a single person isn’t conspiracy (that would be attempt or another inchoate crime), a social club with no criminal intent isn’t criminal conspiracy, and a plan to commit a non-criminal act isn’t conspiratorial.