United States v. Mason Townsend, Luis E. Diaz, Orlando Nunez, Dorothy Taylor, Carlos Mejia, Joseph Angel Claudio, and Isabel Marquez

FLAUM, Circuit Judge.

More than 40 years ago, Justice Jackson observed that the development of the law of conspiracy — “that elastic, sprawling and pervasive offense” — illustrates perfectly the truth of Justice Cardozo’s maxim about “the tendency of a principle to expand itself to the limit of its logic.” See Krulewitch v. United States, 336 U.S. 440, 445, 69 S.Ct. 716, 719, 93 L.Ed. 790 (1949) (Jackson, J., concurring). This case tests the limit of the logic underlying conspiracy law.

I. The Conspiracy Conviction

The government charged that the defendants conspired together and with others to…