Case: 18-11202 Date Filed: 05/04/2020 Page: 1 of 15 [PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 18-11202 ________________________ D.C. Docket No. 6:17-cr-00124-CEM-DCI-1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, versus ONIEL CHRISTOPHER RUSSELL, a.k.a. OG Russell, Defendant - Appellant. ________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida ________________________ (May 4, 2020) Before WILSON and BRANCH, Circuit Judges, and RESTANI, * Judge. WILSON, Circuit Judge: * The Honorable Jane A. Restani, Judge, United States Court of International Trade, sitting by designation. Case: 18-11202 Date Filed: 05/04/2020 Page: 2 of 15 A jury convicted Oniel Russell of possessing a firearm and ammunition as an immigrant illegally or unlawfully in the United States in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(5)(A), 924(a)(2).1 Russell appealed his conviction and sentence. While his appeal was pending, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Rehaif v. United States, 588 U.S. ___, 139 S. Ct. 2191 (2019). Rehaif reversed a decision from our court and held that under § 922(g), the government must prove that a defendant knew “his status as a person barred from possessing a firearm” when he knowingly possessed a firearm. 139 S. Ct. at 2195. We ordered the parties to submit supplemental briefing addressing how the Supreme Court’s decision in Rehaif affects Russell’s § 922(g)(5)(A) conviction. Upon review of the parties’ initial and supplemental briefs, and with the benefit of oral argument, we conclude that Russell has established the necessary prejudice under plain error review. Therefore, we vacate Russell’s § 922(g) conviction and remand the case to the district court for further proceedings. I. Background Russell arrived in the United States on October 29, 2008. He received authorization to stay as a nonimmigrant visitor until January 3, 2009, but he overstayed his authorization period. In February 2012, Vanessa Hood—a United 1 Russell was also convicted of forcibly assaulting, resisting, impeding, intimidating, or interfering with a federal officer in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 111(a)(1). He does not challenge that conviction on appeal. 2 Case: 18-11202 Date Filed: 05/04/2020 Page: 3 of 15 States citizen—filed a Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, on Russell’s behalf. On the form, Hood sought to classify Russell as her spouse. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) approved her petition on July 5, 2012, but on December 19, 2012, Hood requested in writing to withdraw her petition because Russell was still married to another woman in Jamaica. At some point before Hood withdrew the petition, Russell had filed a Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.2 On October 27, 2016, CIS sent a letter acknowledging Hood’s withdrawal of the application. CIS canceled Russell’s I-485 application due to the withdrawal of Hood’s petition. On August 24, 2013, a law enforcement officer pulled Russell over for traveling westbound in an eastbound traffic lane in Orange County, Florida. During the traffic stop, the officer smelled marijuana and asked Russell and his companion to step out of ...
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