Ardon Chinchilla was charged in a federal indictment with violating 18 U.S.C. §1546 by using a fraudulent Order of Supervision to obtain a driver’s license from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Section 1546 makes it a crime to knowingly use or attempt to use a forged…
Mitrovic appealed his conviction for unlawful procurement of naturalization in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1425(b) and 8 U.S.C. 1451(e) that arose from charges against him for concealing from immigration authorities his work as a Serbian prison camp guard. When Mitrovic applied for Unites States citizenship, he stated that he had…
In U.S. v. Ali Rehaif, the defendant, Rehaif, was a citizen of the United Arab Emirates who was convicted of possessing a firearm and ammunition while illegally or unlawfully in the United States. In his appeals he challenges the jury instruction given by the Florida district court regarding whether…
In this case Garcia Martinez pleaded guilty to reentry after deportation in violation of 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1326(a) and his guidelines sentence was enhanced 16 levels by the district court who found his Florida conviction for second degree burglary of a dwelling, for which he was deported, was a…
In Rodolfo Hernandez v. USA, This appeal required the court of appeals decide whether the district court abused its discretion when it refused to conduct an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Rodolfo Hernandez’s counsel provided effective assistance when she incorrectly advised him about the immigration consequences of his guilty plea.…
In U.S. v. Estrada, Defendant Rudy Estrada pled guilty to illegal re-entry after being deported subsequent to an aggravated felony conviction. He now appeals the 48-month sentence imposed by the district court, arguing that the district court erred in applying a 16-level enhancement pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii). This particular…
The defendants in U.S. v. Chahla were three brothers from Syria who were convicted following a jury trial of various federal crimes in connection with their fraudulent marriages and their subsequent attempt to procure citizenship. The three brothers, all of whom resided in Florida, paid three women for a marriage.…
In U.S. v. Garza-Mendez, the defendant pleaded guilty to the federal crime of reentry after deportation by an aggravated felon in violation of 8 U.S.C. §1326(a). His deportation resulted from a prior conviction under a Georgia-family-violence-battery statute for striking his girlfriend. In that case, he was sentenced to confinement to…
In U.S. v. Charles the Eleventh Circuit found that the out-of-court statements by an interpreter to a Custom’s officer interrogating the defendant were testimonial and their admission was in violation of Sixth Amendment right to confront the interpreter as required by the Supreme Court’s decision in Crawford v. Washington. The…
In U.S. v. Rojas, the defendant and his wife were indicted and convicted of marriage fraud, in violations of 8 U.S.C. § 1325(c). On this appeal, Rojas challenged his conviction arguing that the indictment fell outside the five-year statute of limitations. Specifically, he argued that statute of limitations for his…