UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Miguel Angel GOMEZ, Defendant-Appellant

Miguel Angel Gomez was convicted of arson and using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, 18 U.S.C. §§ 844 (i) and 924(c), and possession of a destructive device, 26 U.S.C. § 5861 (d). In this appeal, we are asked to decide whether Gomez’s arson conviction should be reversed because the prosecution did not sufficiently prove that the building Gomez damaged substantially affected interstate commerce, a required element of the offense. We conclude that the government presented sufficient evidence to satisfy the interstate commerce element. We therefore affirm.

I

Gomez set fire to a six-unit apartment complex with a Molotov cocktail, and he was convicted of arson under 18 U.S.C. § 844 (i), which provides:

(emphasis added). He was sentenced to ten years for the arson charge, and twenty years for using a destructive device in relation to a crime of violence. There was no testimony at trial as to any interstate commerce connection, and Gomez contends that the apartment building he damaged did not sufficiently affect interstate commerce to allow federal court jurisdiction over this claim.

The district court instructed the jury that a “residential apartment building with…