At his arraignment Roger Jameson is charged with murder in the first degree and conspiracy in the first degree, but the conspiracy charge is incorrect for the circumstance of the crime, this mistake is actually made quite frequently in the Law & Order franchise. Conspiracy in the first degree is when an adult over the age of 18 compels or induces a minor under the age of 16 to commit a class A felony. Since the people he hired were all adults the proper charge would be conspiracy in the second degree. While this might seem to be an insignificant distinction, the sentences for the two different degrees are not: conspiracy in the first degree is a class A-I felony and carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years; conspiracy in the second degree is a class B felony and carries a minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum of 25 years.