A law enforcement officer receives a reliable tip from an informant that a government employee is soliciting bribes in exchange for awarding…

The entrapment defense is unlikely to succeed because two key conditions are not met. First, the officer had a "reliable tip," which constitutes adequate predication to initiate an investigation. This shows the government did not randomly target an innocent person. Second, the suspect readily demanded a cash payment, demonstrating a predisposition to commit the crime. Entrapment requires proving that the government induced a crime that the defendant was not otherwise predisposed to commit. Here, the officer merely provided the opportunity.

A. Deceit is a legal and standard component of undercover law enforcement operations and does not, by itself, constitute entrapment.
B. A reliable tip provides sufficient basis (predication) to begin an investigation; probable cause is a higher standard not required to initiate this type of inquiry.
D. The entrapment defense specifically applies to actions taken by government agents; the investigator's status is what makes the defense possible, not what makes it fail.

1. Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. (2023). Fraud Examiners Manual, International Edition. Section 6.210, "Entrapment." The manual states that for entrapment to apply, the government must have induced the crime, and the defendant must not have been predisposed to commit it. The presence of predication counters the entrapment claim.

2. Bologna, G. J., & Lindquist, R. J. (1995). Fraud Auditing and Forensic Accounting: New Tools and Techniques. John Wiley & Sons. Chapter 7, "Investigation of Fraud," discusses that undercover operations are valid when there is a reasonable suspicion (predication) of criminal activity.