United States v. Gonzalez

Summary

The First Circuit affirmed Napoleon Gonzalez's convictions and restitution order arising from his decades-long assumption of his deceased brother's identity to collect Social Security benefits under two names and obtain a passport. It held that a rational jury could find venue proper in Maine for the false-statement passport count from circumstantial evidence tying the application's completion to his Maine residence, and for the passport-use count because the jury could find the passport was used in Canada, placing venue under 18 U.S.C. § 3238 in the district of his last known residence. It also held that his challenge to the restitution calculation was preserved — rejecting the government's waiver argument — and that the district court did not abuse its discretion in adopting the government's 'Scenario Four,' which credited the higher earnings figure appearing on either identity's record for each year.