United States v. Andranik Petrosian

MEMORANDUM

Andranik Petrosian appeals his conviction and sentence after a jury found him guilty of providing false statements to a government agency, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001 , and conspiring to defraud the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 871 . We have jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3742 (a) and 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

The district court properly admitted the statements Petrosian made during a proffer session. The district court’s finding that Petrosian was not completely truthful was not clearly erroneous. See United States v. Chiu, 109 F.3d 624, 625 (9th Cir.1997). At the proffer meeting, Petrosian stated the advertisement for Dr. Winkler’s office was legitimate and that Alex Ayriyan visited him for legitimate purposes. Dr. Winkler, however, testified to writing large checks for advertisements after being threatened by Ayriyan. She further testified that the advertisements ran for several months after her clinic’s closing.

Petrosian’s argument that the government acted in bad faith by providing him with an Armenian translator instead of a Russian one is unavailing. Assuming the government was required to act in good faith and provide…