Whether the five-year statute of limitations for federal crimes begins to run from the date of the last overt act in a criminal conspiracy or from the date of the last substantive offense

QUESTION PRESENTED Prosecutors, judges, and defense lawyers know that the statute of limitations for almost all federal crimes is five years: “[N]o person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for any offense, not capital, unless the indictment is found or the information is instituted within five years next after such offense shall have been committed.” 18 U.S.C. § 3282(a). That means that prosecutors must obtain an indictment (from a grand jury) or “institute” an information (with the defendant’s consent) within those five years to properly proceed. The question presented here is: Whether the government’s filing of a knowingly invalid information, without the defendant’s waiver of indictment as required for felonies by Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 7, is sufficient to “institute” the information within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 3282(a) and thereby toll the statute of limitations in a criminal case.