- In federal law, conspiracy is defined as an intentional agreement between two or more persons to carry out the criminal objective along with an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy. This law can be found in Section 371 of Title 18 of the United States Code (USC), which states: "If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose, and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both."
- In California law, conspiracy is defined as an agreement between two or more persons to carry out a crime along with an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy. California Penal Code Section 182 states that conspiracy arises when "two or more persons conspire to commit any crime." Section 184 of the Penal Code states that a conspiracy conviction requires proof of an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy by one or more of the parties involved in the conspiracy.
- In Texas, the law of conspiracy is similar to the federal definition although the exact wording of the law is different. Section 15.02 of the Texas Penal Code states that a "person commits criminal conspiracy if, with intent that a felony be committed ... he agrees with one or more persons that they or one or more of them engage in conduct that would constitute the offense; and he or one or more of them performs an overt act in pursuance of the agreement."
- In New York, conspiracy is similar to the other state and federal laws except that it is divided into degrees. There are six degrees of conspiracy that a person can be charged with. The main difference is that possible penalties for a conviction increase as you go from sixth-degree conspiracy down to first-degree conspiracy. Otherwise, all degrees require that there be an agreement between two or more persons to commit an unlawful objective.
- In Florida, the crime of conspiracy is similar to the federal definition except that there is no requirement that the parties to the conspiracy actually agree to achieve the criminal objective. Instead of showing an agreement, the prosecution may convict a person of conspiracy by showing he assisted or aided the other conspirators in furthering a crime.
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