counsel and procure
Counsel and procure are forms of accomplice activity. Under both federal and state law, counseling or procuring a crime can lead to liability equal to that of the principal offender, but only if the person knowingly assisted in the commission of the crime. Federal law provides that anyone who “aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures” the commission of a crime is punishable as a principal (18 U.S.C. § 2).
Although related, counseling and procuring describe different conduct. Counseling refers to encouraging, soliciting, or providing information to the person committing the crime. Procuring refers to helping obtain resources or otherwise creating the conditions for another to commit the crime. For example, if a CEO were running a Ponzi scheme, an employee who knowingly procured investors for the scheme could be held liable as an accomplice.
A person cannot be convicted for counseling or procuring unless the prosecution proves knowledge of the criminal conduct. In the example above, if the employee recruited investors without knowing of the CEO’s fraudulent scheme, they would not be guilty as an accomplice.
[Last reviewed in August of 2025 by the Wex Definitions Team]
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