Rojas

MEMORANDUM ***

Defendant Hugo Rojas appeals his conviction, following a three day jury trial, of three counts of passing counterfeit obligations and securities in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 472 . On July 17, 2001, a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment against Rojas charging him with passing counterfeit obligations and securities of the United States. At trial, the government presented evidence that on three occasions in January 2001, Rojas passed counterfeit $5, $10, and $20 federal reserve bills at three separate coin-operated laundromats in Oxnard, California. In each instance, the respective owner of the laundromat discovered his automated change machine had been emptied and replaced with counterfeit currency. The counterfeit bills, which shared only a few serial numbers, totaled $3,095.

The district court sentenced Rojas to thirty months imprisonment on June 11, 2002. Rojas filed a timely appeal on June 17, 2002. We have jurisdiction over this appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 .

On appeal, Rojas challenges the admission of his prior bad acts. Rojas also argues that the prosecutor engaged in misconduct by (1) vouching for the credibility of an expert…