The following is drawn from the U.S. Justice Department's page on Entrapment. This defense would have to be developed from detailed evidence at trial; it cannot be assumed from a newspaper-level outline of a sting case.
There are two elements to an entrapment defense:
1) The government induces the crime
2) The defendent lacked predisposition to commit the crime
Lack of either element is fatal to an entrapment defense.
To show inducement, the defense must show more that government artifice or deceit. They must show:
* at least persuasion or mild coercion
* OR, pleas based on need, sympathy, or friendship
* OR, extraordinary promises
Inducement shown only if government's behavior was such that "a law-abiding citizen's will to obey the law could have been overborne."
"The predisposition inquiry focuses upon whether the defendant "was an unwary innocent or, instead, an unwary criminal who readily availed himself of the opportunity to perpetrate the crime."
https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/...pment-elements