Case: 18-14529 Date Filed: 01/09/2020 Page: 1 of 45 [PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 18-14529 ________________________ D.C. Docket No. 1:15-cr-20865-KMM-1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus JUSTO JONAH SANTOS, Defendant-Appellant. ________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida ________________________ (January 9, 2020) Before ROSENBAUM, TJOFLAT and HULL, Circuit Judges. HULL, Circuit Judge: Case: 18-14529 Date Filed: 01/09/2020 Page: 2 of 45 After a jury trial, Justo Jonah Santos appeals his convictions for procuring naturalization unlawfully, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1425(a), and misuse of evidence of an unlawfully issued certificate of naturalization, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1423. On appeal, Santos challenges some of the district court’s evidentiary rulings and also argues that the trial evidence was insufficient to support his § 1425(a) conviction. After review and with the benefit of oral argument, we affirm. I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND A. Santos’s 2007 Application for Naturalization A native of the Dominican Republic, defendant Santos became a lawful permanent resident of the United States in 1982, when he was 12 years old. On July 27, 2007, Santos, then age 37, applied for naturalization. To that end, Santos completed a N-400 Application for Naturalization (hereinafter “Form N-400 Application” or “Application”), which is a standard form that all individuals must submit to the government to become a naturalized citizen. In a section titled “Good Moral Character,” Santos certified under penalty of perjury that he had never been arrested for any reason (Question 16), had never been charged with committing a crime (Question 17), had never been convicted of a crime (Question 18), and had never been in jail or prison (Question 21). Santos 2 Case: 18-14529 Date Filed: 01/09/2020 Page: 3 of 45 did not provide any information in the section asking for more details about his prior criminal history, including the “City, State, Country” of any arrest or charge The Application also required Santos to report the amount of time he spent outside the United States since becoming a lawful permanent resident in 1982, specifically, any trips that lasted longer than 24 hours. In response, Santos listed these six trips to the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua: (1) an 11-day trip to the Dominican Republic in July 2003; (2) a 2-day trip to the Dominican Republic in November 2003; (3) an 11-day trip to Nicaragua in 2004; (4) a 3-day trip to the Dominican Republic in September 2007; (5) a 3-day trip to the Dominican Republic in April 2007; and (6) a 15-day trip to Nicaragua in June 2007. Notably, Santos did not report taking any trips before 2003. Santos also did not disclose that he had previously used any other names or aliases. Santos signed his Form N- 400 Application directly below a certification that its contents were true and correct. B. Santos’s 2009 Interview and Re-signing of Form N-400 Application On January 26, 2009, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) Officer Lucas Barrios interviewed Santos. ...
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