Adeyemo

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS UNDER RFRA

INTRODUCTION

Defendant Moses Adeyemo (“Defendant”) moves to dismiss the indictment under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (“RFRA”). (Docket No. 11.) For the reasons set forth below, the Court DENIES Defendant’s motion to dismiss.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Defendant is a citizen of Nigeria and the United States of America. When Defendant travels to the United States, he stays for one to two months. He brings Nigerian wooden carvings and handicrafts that he gives as gifts and sells at different Bay Area flea markets. Only after he earns enough money doing odd jobs and selling wooden carvings and handicrafts can Defendant afford to buy a return ticket back to Nigeria. (Colby Decl. at ¶ 4-6.)

Defendant alleges to be an adherent of a mixture of the Catholic and Santería religions. Defendant has submitted evidence to show that, in Nigeria, Catholicism is mixed with Santería. Santería is one of a number of Yoruba religions “practiced around the Atlantic perimeter that shares historical roots in what is now Southwestern Nigeria, and is united in the worship of sacred beings called Orishas.” (Matory Decl. at ¶ 2.) Leopard skins are…