United States v. Knox
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
112 F.3d 802 (1997)
Undercover federal agents, posing as potential investors, repeatedly asked Reverend David Brace and his financial advisor Shannon Knox (defendants) whether they would launder drug-sale proceeds through Brace's financially struggling church. Neither man had prior criminal records or money-laundering experience, but they assured the agents they were willing to help and began receiving large payments from them. An agent testified it was actually inefficient to use a church for laundering and that no real launderer had ever done so, but that a church was an ideal, unsuspicious target for a sting. Brace and Knox were convicted on four money-laundering counts, and Brace argued on appeal he was entrapped as a matter of law.
Whether, if the defendant asserts an entrapment defense, the prosecution must prove that the defendant had both the desire and the ability to commit the crime.