"My husband and brother-in-law are charged with attempted burglary and criminal conspiracy to commit burglary. If they are convicted, can they be punished separately for each of those charges? The lawyer told us that the charges merge?" -Gabriella
Well, Gabriella, the lawyer is essentially correct. Pennsylvania Statutes Title 18 Section 906 states that a person may not be convicted of more than one 'incohate' crime. An incohate crime is attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy. So technically, the charges do not merge for purposes of sentencing, since it is not possible to be convicted of both.Labels: attempt, conspiracy, sentencing, solicitation