United States v. Miguel Osuna-Alvarez

In this opinion, we resolve Miguel Osu-na-Alvarez’s challenge to his conviction for aggravated identity theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A. Osuna-Alvarez (“Osu-na”) contends that because he had permission to use his twin brother’s passport, he therefore did not use the passport “without lawful authority,” as required by the statute. See 18 U.S.C. § 1028A. As set forth below, we reject this argument. The remaining issues in this appeal are resolved in a contemporaneously filed memorandum disposition.

I.

On October 13, 2012, Osuna was arrested while attempting to enter the United States from Mexico at the Otay Mesa, California Port of Entry. Osuna was the driver and sole occupant of his vehicle. At the border crossing, a canine alerted to the vehicle’s dashboard. When questioned, Osuna claimed he was headed for San Ysidro and denied having anything to declare. He presented a United States passport in the name of “Hector Alejandro Osuna-Alvarez.”

Following inspection, Customs and Border Protection discovered ten packages containing over three kilograms of meth-' amphetamine and two packages containing over two kilograms of cocaine, hidden inside the vehicle’s…