Case: 19-60103 Document: 00515273886 Page: 1 Date Filed: 01/15/2020 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED No. 19-60103 January 15, 2020 Lyle W. Cayce UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Clerk Plaintiff - Appellee v. ANKIT PURI, Defendant - Appellant Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi USDC 3:18-CR-115-1 Before DAVIS, HAYNES, and OLDHAM, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Ankit Puri appeals his conviction for being an alien in possession of a firearm. Applying plain error review, we AFFIRM. * Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. Case: 19-60103 Document: 00515273886 Page: 2 Date Filed: 01/15/2020 No. 19-60103 I. Background A jury convicted Ankit Puri of one count of being an alien in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(5)(A) 1 and 924(a)(2). Puri is an Indian national who entered the United States in June 2015 after obtaining a visa that allowed him to remain legally until December 28, 2015. On March 3, 2018, Puri was working as a clerk at a convenience store. He nonfatally shot a customer with a firearm after a confrontation. At Puri’s trial, Anthony Williams, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, testified that he first came in contact with Puri on May 4, 2018, after Puri had been arrested by immigration officials. At the time, Puri was being processed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to be removed from the United States and deported back to India. Williams testified that Puri had been admitted into the United States on a nonimmigrant B-2 visa, which had a departure date of December 28, 2015. He confirmed that after December 28, 2015, Puri was unlawfully present in the United States. Williams also confirmed that Puri was not permitted to possess a firearm once he overstayed his visa. Williams interviewed Puri on June 19, 2018. An audiotape of the interview was admitted into evidence, and a portion of it was played for the jury (although the court reporter failed to transcribe the portion played). During the interview, Puri admitted that he was in removal proceedings to be deported back to India because he overstayed his visa, that he was not supposed to be working, and that he was not allowed to possess a firearm. Williams specifically asked whether Puri knew that he was “not allowed to 1 This section makes it “unlawful” for anyone who is “illegally or unlawfully in the United States” to “possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm.” 2 Case: 19-60103 Document: 00515273886 Page: 3 Date Filed: 01/15/2020 No. 19-60103 have a firearm,” and Puri responded: “But I was not having that firearm, was not me, it was keeping at store.” On cross examination, Williams testified that, at some point, Puri had been released on an immigration bond. Puri’s receipt ...
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