United States v. Grassi

Dante Angelo Grassi (defendant) and six others were indicted for conspiring to distribute drugs and unregistered firearms after undercover agents posed as smugglers and built a relationship with several conspirators over months of meetings. Grassi met the agents only twice: once when he expressed general interest in the importation scheme, and again months later when he offered to arrange protection and a cocaine purchase if the agents imported marijuana themselves, though he took no active part in that second conversation once it turned to other topics. Grassi did not attend the group's regular planning meetings. The jury convicted Grassi of conspiracy, and he appealed.