If a person is convicted of conspiracy to commit a criminal offense, the penalties they face depend on the type of crime they are alleged to have conspired to commit. If the underlying crime the person is accused of conspiring to commit carries a maximum penalty of less than five years, the maximum penalty for the conspiracy is the same as the maximum penalty for the offense itself. For example, if a person is accused of conspiracy to commit a crime that carries a maximum penalty of three years, the conspiracy charge cannot be any more than a maximum penalty of three years.