A criminal agreement exists whenever two or more persons unite on committing a certain felony or misdemeanor, or on arranging the works that prepare for or facilitate its commitment. An agreement shall be considered criminal, whether its purpose is or is not admissible, if committing felonies or misdemeanors is within the methods that were noticed in reaching that purpose. Any person who participates in a criminal agreement, whether its purpose is to commit felonies or adopt them as a means to reach the purpose of that agreement, shall be penalized with commitment to detention for his mere participation in it. If the purpose of the agreement is to commit misdemeanors or adopt them as a means to reach the purpose sought from it, the accomplice shall be punished with confinement to prison. Whoever instigates for a criminal agreement of that kind, or interferes in managing its movement shall be penalized with temporary hard labor in the first case prescribed in the previous clause, and with commitment to imprisonment in the second case. However, if the purpose of the agreement is only to commit a specified felony or misdemeanor of which the penalty is lighter than what is prescribed in the previous clauses, no penalty stricter than what is prescribed in the law for that felony or crime, shall be imposed. Whoever among the offenders hastens to advise the government of the existence of a criminal agreement, and of the accomplices in it, before the occurrence of any felony or misdemeanor, and before the government searches for and carries out an inspection about those offenders, shall be exempted from the penalties prescribed in this Article. If advising the government takes place after the search and inspection, such advice shall have to lead actually to arresting the other offenders. Part 7 Recidivism Article 49 The following shall be considered a recidivist: First: A person against whom a penalty for felony is ruled, and it is established that he has committed a felony or misdemeanor thereafter.