Any person who attempts or conspires to commit any offense defined in this subchapter shall be subject to the same penalties as those prescribed for the offense, the commission of which was the object of the attempt or conspiracy.
This makes it an equal crime to conspire to commit a subchapter violation. And, the crime does not have to be completed for a conspiracy transaction to take place. One must simply make an agreement to commit a federal crime, know that the agreement is unlawful, and one person must take an “overt act” in furtherance of the conspiracy. Even if the substantive crime of the conspiracy is not completed, one can still be convicted of conspiring to commit said crime.
18 U.C.S. Section 2(a) expands the manner and means of committing a substantive crime. It states:
Whoever commits an offense against the United States or aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures its commission, is punishable as a principal.
Congress intended these to be separate forms of liability, as 846 is conspiracy liability and section 2 is liability as a principal. Congress could have made them part of the same statute if they were desired to be used together, as confusing as it might become. But, section 2 was primarily drafted to eliminate the old doctrines of accessory before and after the fact, while 846 codified the old conspiracy liability doctrines. Section 2 requires that the crime actually be completed, unlike a conspiracy count.