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I. A Sting is Bom: The Inception of Abscam..................235
II. Summary of Charged Offenses.................. 238
A. Federal Bribery Statute (18 U.S.C. § 201(b)).................. 238
B. Federal Gratuity Statute (18 U.S.C. § 201(c)).................. 239
III. History of the Entrapment Defense.................. 240
A. Entrapment: A Distinctly American Concept.................. 240
B. Sorrells v. United States: The Supreme Court Enters the Fray.................. 241
C. Distinguishing Objective from Subjective Entrapment.........242
D. How Far is Too Far? Outrageous Government Conduct as a Violation of Due Process.................. 243
IV. Entrapment Defense Applied in Abscam Prosecutions.................. 245
A. Myers's Pre-Trial Objections to the Abscam Indictment.................. 246
B. Initial Trial of Representatives Myers, Thompson, Murphy, Lederer, and Errichetti.................. 246
C. The Due Process Defense: "Outrageous Government Conduct".................. 247
1. Second Circuit's Consideration of the Due Process Defense.................. 248
2. D.C. Circuit's Consideration of the Due Process Defense.................. 248
D. Williams's "Coaching" Defense.................. 252
V. Abscam's Legacy: The Evolution of the Entrapment Defense and Sting Operations.................. 254
A. Mathews v. United States: The Objectivist's Last Stand.................. 254
B. Jacobson v. United States and Modem Entrapment Jurisprudence..................255
C. Evolution in FBI Guidelines Pertaining to Sting Operations.... 258
VI. Conclusion.................. 260
When public officials are as readily corrupted, as were the defendants in these cases, the republic is in grave danger. Far more threatening to our national survival than any foreign enemy is corruption and rot at the center of our government. If legislative action by members of [CJongress can be purchased with funds supplied by unseen foreigners, in jeopardy is the very core of our democratic government, faithful representation of citizens by their elected representatives.'
These were the stakes that served as the backdrop for the largest public corruption sting in United States history: "Abscam." From 1977-1980, agents in the FBI's Long Island field office conducted the undercover investigation, initially designed to uncover securities fraud and recover stolen art treasures.* 1 2 Within a year of its conception, Abscam evolved into an elaborate ruse, where FBI agents and a professional grifter posed as wealthy Arab sheiks, persuading congressmen to accept bribes in front of hidden cameras.3 After four years of clandestine operations, and another four years of protracted court battles, the sting operation ultimately produced the convictions of six U.S. Representatives, one U.S. Senator, and...