United States v. Jorge Sosa

MEMORANDUM

Jorge Sosa appeals his convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 1015 (a) and § 1425(a) for knowingly providing false information in a naturalization proceeding and knowingly procuring naturalization in a manner contrary to law. Sosa failed to disclose on his naturalization application his past membership in the Guatemalan Army and his participation in serious crimes during Guatemala’s long-running internal conflict. In 1982, Sosa participated in the Dos Erres massacre, during which Guatemalan soldiers killed approximately 160 civilians. We conclude that Sosa’s convictions and the sentence under § 1425(a) were proper. We remand for the limited purpose of correcting a discrepancy in Sosa’s concurrent sentence under § 1015(a).

1. Sosa first asserts that the naturalization application questions that prompted his provision of false information were fundamentally ambiguous, rendering his convictions invalid. The application asked Sosa “Have you ever committed a crime or offense for which you were not arrested?” Sosa answered “No.” As applied to Sosa in this context, the question was not fundamentally ambiguous. Sosa was involved in the killing of a large number of civilians,…