United States v. Roberto Gonzalez Escobar


Case: 17-13666 Date Filed: 05/24/2018 Page: 1 of 9 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 17-13666 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ D.C. Docket No. 1:16-cr-20633-JEM-1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus ROBERTO GONZALEZ ESCOBAR, Defendant-Appellant. ________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida ________________________ (May 24, 2018) Before TJOFLAT, NEWSOM, and EDMONDSON, Circuit Judges. Case: 17-13666 Date Filed: 05/24/2018 Page: 2 of 9 PER CURIAM: Roberto Gonzalez Escobar appeals his convictions for knowingly presenting an application for naturalization containing a false statement of material fact, 18 U.S.C. § 1546(a), and for procuring naturalization for himself in a manner contrary to law, 18 U.S.C. § 1425(a). No reversible error has been shown; we affirm. Gonzalez Escobar came to the United States from Cuba in 1999. In 2012, Gonzalez Escobar filed an application for naturalization. That application was denied because Gonzalez Escobar -- in support of his request for a waiver from certain English language and U.S. history testing requirements -- had submitted insufficient documentation of his dementia. Gonzalez Escobar reapplied for naturalization in 2014, submitting additional documentation supporting his medical waiver request. The 2014 application was approved, and Gonzalez Escobar became a naturalized citizen in November 2014. In his 2012 application, Gonzalez Escobar answered “no” when asked “Have you ever committed a crime or offense for which you were not arrested?” In his 2014 application, Gonzalez Escobar answered “no” to these questions (1) “Have you ever committed, assisted in committing, or attempted to commit, a crime or offense for which you were not arrested?” and (2) “Were you ever involved in any 2 Case: 17-13666 Date Filed: 05/24/2018 Page: 3 of 9 way with : . . . [f]orcing or trying to force, someone to have any kind of sexual contact or relations?” In 2015, Gonzalez Escobar pleaded guilty to six counts of lewd and lascivious conduct against a minor; the pertinent conduct occurred between 2003 and 2006. The criminal charges underlying this appeal stem from Gonzalez Escobar’s failure to disclose information about his criminal conduct between 2003 and 2006 in his naturalization applications. The jury found Gonzalez Escobar guilty on both counts of the indictment. Gonzalez Escobar was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment for each count (to run concurrently) and to one year supervised release. In addition, his citizenship was revoked. I. On appeal, Gonzalez Escobar first contends the district court abused its discretion in admitting evidence of his 2015 convictions for lewd and lascivious molestation of minors. * Gonzalez Escobar contends this evidence was unduly prejudicial and should have been excluded under Fed. R. Evid. 403. * Contrary to Gonzalez Escobar’s assertions on appeal, the government introduced evidence pertaining only to Gonzalez Escobar’s convictions based on criminal conduct that occurred 3 Case: 17-13666 Date Filed: 05/24/2018 Page: 4 of 9 We review for abuse-of-discretion a district court’s evidentiary rulings. United States v. Lebowitz, 676 F.3d 1000, 1009 (11th Cir. 2012). A district court “may exclude ...

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