Case: 18-13316 Date Filed: 09/24/2019 Page: 1 of 13 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 18-13316 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ D.C. Docket No. 0:18-cr-60032-WPD-1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus PIERRE ELIEN, Defendant-Appellant. ________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida ________________________ (September 24, 2019) Before MARTIN, JILL PRYOR, and BRANCH, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Pierre Elien appeals his jury conviction for unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Elien Case: 18-13316 Date Filed: 09/24/2019 Page: 2 of 13 argues the evidence introduced at trial was insufficient to establish he possessed firearms. He also argues the district court abused its discretion by allowing the government to admit into evidence a recording and the translated transcript of a jail call in which he discussed his ownership of the car where the firearms were found. After careful review, we affirm. I. In February 2018, a grand jury charged Elien with one count of knowingly possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Elien stipulated that he was a convicted felon and that the firearms and ammunition he was accused of possessing travelled in interstate commerce. He then proceeded to trial by jury. During trial, the government introduced evidence that, in 2016, Homeland Security Investigation agents began investigating Elien for participating in a possible cocaine smuggling operation. As part of the investigation, agents surveilled Elien’s apartment building in Pompano Beach, Florida. During their surveillance, agents saw Elien driving a silver Mercedes G-Wagon. In particular, an agent recorded in a report that he saw Elien driving the Mercedes on April 11, 2017. Agents also observed that either the Mercedes or a red Toyota Corolla was frequently parked in a space assigned to Elien’s apartment. 2 Case: 18-13316 Date Filed: 09/24/2019 Page: 3 of 13 In the course of their investigation, agents discovered Elien may have violated immigration laws. On February 7, 2018, federal agents and officers from the Broward Sheriff’s Office went to Elien’s apartment building to arrest him for the suspected immigration violation. After they saw Elien walk out of the apartment building and enter the Toyota Corolla, agents stopped him, instructed him to get out of the car, and placed him under arrest. At the time of the arrest, agents saw the silver Mercedes in the parking lot of Elien’s apartment building. After Elien was arrested, a Broward officer walked her canine partner around the Mercedes. The dog alerted, indicating to the officer that the car should be searched further. Elien’s wife or girlfriend 1 spoke with law enforcement officers and supplied the keys for the Mercedes. Using those keys, officers unlocked the car then deployed the dog inside the vehicle. The dog again alerted, this time signaling the need to search the floorboard behind the vehicle’s center console. In the area where the dog alerted, officers discovered ...
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