Opinion ID: 556410
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Zlotkiewicz's Withdrawal From the Conspiracy

Text: 12 Ortiz contends that the superseding indictment in fact charged a conspiracy quite limited in scope, whose members were Martinez, Gil, and Zlotkiewicz, and whose sole objective was the supply of cocaine to Zlotkiewicz for redistribution. The argument is that when Zlotkiewicz was arrested and withdrew from the conspiracy, the conspiracy perforce ended; and since this occurred prior to Ortiz's involvement, Ortiz could not have joined this conspiracy. This argument has no merit. 13 The mere withdrawal of one coconspirator from the conspiracy does not terminate the conspiracy when at least two coconspirators remain who have not withdrawn. See, e.g., United States v. Cruz, 797 F.2d 90, 98 (2d Cir.1986) (although [defendant's] arrest terminated his active participation in the conspiracy, it did not terminate the conspiracy itself); United States v. Katz, 601 F.2d 66, 68 (2d Cir.1979) (per curiam ); United States v. Panebianco, 543 F.2d 447, 453 (2d Cir.1976), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 1103, 97 S.Ct. 1129, 51 L.Ed.2d 553 (1977). Nor does the fact that the coconspirator who withdrew has become a government informant unbeknownst to the coconspirators prevent the continuation of the conspiracy. Although a person acting as an agent of the government cannot be a coconspirator, see, e.g., United States v. Goldberg, 756 F.2d 949, 958 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 472 U.S. 1009, 105 S.Ct. 2706, 86 L.Ed.2d 721 (1985); United States v. Tombrello, 666 F.2d 485, 490 n. 3 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 994, 102 S.Ct. 2279, 73 L.Ed.2d 1291 (1982); United States v. Chase, 372 F.2d 453, 459 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 387 U.S. 907, 87 S.Ct. 1688, 18 L.Ed.2d 626 (1967), the presence of a government agent does not destroy a conspiracy in which at least two other private individuals have agreed to engage in an unlawful venture, United States v. Goldberg, 756 F.2d at 958; see United States v. Elledge, 723 F.2d 864, 866 (11th Cir.1984). Since the essence of any conspiracy is agreement, rather than the success of the venture, see, e.g., United States v. Labat, 905 F.2d 18, 21 (2d Cir.1990), a defendant may be convicted of conspiracy even if the intended substantive crime could not occur because the person he and his coconspirators thought would participate in it was actually an agent of the government, see, e.g., United States v. Goldberg, 756 F.2d at 958; United States v. Rose, 590 F.2d 232, 235 (7th Cir.1978) (fact that defendants' plan was doomed because they unwittingly chose as their instrumentalities agents of the government is irrelevant to the existence of the conspiracy), cert. denied, 442 U.S. 929, 99 S.Ct. 2859, 61 L.Ed.2d 297 (1979); United States v. Seelig, 498 F.2d 109, 113 (5th Cir.1974) (fact that a government informant was to effect the actual distribution of the drug does not extirpate [the defendants'] liability for conspiring to violate the law). 14 In the present case, the superseding indictment alleged that from 1985 to July 1989, Ortiz, Martinez, and others to the Grand Jury unknown conspired to violate the narcotics laws. The evidence was ample to support the inference that Martinez and Gil had so agreed and that they persisted, not knowing of Zlotkiewicz's arrest, in their agreement to supply narcotics to Zlotkiewicz for distribution. The fact that Zlotkiewicz had become a government informant and that the conspiracy was therefore doomed to failure was immaterial as a matter of law.