Here's where your legal theories fall into a crack. 1) whether or not something comes of it, a conspiracy to commit a crime is still a crime. 2) Obviously if it was a sting, and Jr. went and plotted, he would have been arrested by now for conspiring.
If you and your buddy plot to rob a bank, and meet with someone you believe is on the inside and who will let you in after hours.... but don't go through with it, it's still a crime. Whether the "insider" is real, or an undercover cop, doesn't matter. If the insider was a cop, you'd be busted.... so there goes your Jr. and the set-up bullshit.
You guys really *are* grasping at straws now.