USCA11 Case: 19-10987 Date Filed: 02/11/2021 Page: 1 of 24 [PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT No. 19-10987 D.C. Docket No. 1:18-cr-20857-JEM-1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus RUBERMAN ARDON CHINCHILLA, Defendant-Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (February 11, 2021) Before WILSON, LAGOA, and HULL, Circuit Judges. LAGOA, Circuit Judge: USCA11 Case: 19-10987 Date Filed: 02/11/2021 Page: 2 of 24 A federal grand jury returned a two-count superseding indictment against Ruberman Ardon Chinchilla, charging him with violating 18 U.S.C § 1546(a) by allegedly using a fraudulent order of supervision to obtain a driver’s license from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (“Florida DHSMV”). 18 U.S.C. § 1546(a) criminalizes the knowing use, attempt to use or possession of a forged, counterfeited, altered, fraudulently procured, or unlawfully obtained document prescribed by statute or regulation for entry into or as evidence of authorized stay or employment in the United States. This appeal asks us to determine whether an order of supervision constitutes a “document prescribed by statute or regulation . . . as evidence of authorized stay . . . in the United States” under 18 U.S.C. § 1546(a). Pursuant to 8 C.F.R. §§ 241.13, 241.4, and 241.5, the United States Immigration & Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) may issue an order of supervision to aliens unlawfully present in the United States. An order of supervision authorizes an unlawful alien to be released from custody into the community and to remain living in the United States for an indefinite period of time (often many years) pending removal. On its face, an order of supervision states that the alien is “permitted to be at large” subject to the conditions set forth in the order. Orders of supervision may authorize the alien to seek employment in the United States, see id. § 241.5(c), and various federal regulations identify orders of supervision as evidence 2 USCA11 Case: 19-10987 Date Filed: 02/11/2021 Page: 3 of 24 of lawful presence in the United States for purposes of receiving Social Security and federal health care benefits. Additionally, the State of Florida accepts from applicants seeking to obtain a Florida driver’s license an order of supervision as proof of legal presence in the United States. Chinchilla moved to dismiss the superseding indictment for failing to state an offense under § 1546(a), arguing that the term “authorized stay” means “lawful presence” in the United States and that no federal statute or regulation expressly identifies an order of supervision as “evidence of authorized stay in the United States.” The district court dismissed the superseding indictment after concluding that an order of supervision does not qualify as a document “prescribed by statute or regulation . . . as evidence of authorized stay . . . in the United States” as required by § 1546(a). After careful review and with the benefit of oral argument, we reverse the district court’s order dismissing the superseding indictment and remand for further ...
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