United States v. Read
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
658 F.2d 1225 (1981)
Ralph Read, Ronald Spiegel, and Howard Swiger (defendants), executives at Cenco, conspired to inflate a subsidiary's financial reports through years of fraud, ultimately discovered when an outside company bought shares and examined the records. Spiegel argued his conspiracy charge was barred because he'd withdrawn from the conspiracy more than five years before indictment, and the district court gave a withdrawal instruction but placed the burden of proving withdrawal on Spiegel rather than the prosecution; the defendants were convicted, and Spiegel appealed.
Whether a criminal defendant may assert withdrawal from a conspiracy as a complete defense if he abandons the conspiratorial agreement before the running of the statute of limitations.