United States v. Ortiz-Sifuentes, 2:25-cr-01441

Maria Isabel Ortiz-Sifuentes was charged with three misdemeanor offenses stemming from allegedly unlawful entry onto military property adjacent to the US-Mexico border.
The charges included: Entry Without Inspection (8 U.S.C. § 1325), Violation of a Security Regulation (50 U.S.C. § 797), and Entering Military Property for an Unlawful Purpose (18 U.S.C. § 1382).
The defendant was represented by the Federal Public Defender at an initial appearance and a motion was made to dismiss the Title 50 and Title 18 charges.
The core factual dispute centered on whether Ortiz-Sifuentes knowingly and willfully entered military property and did so with an unlawful purpose.
The court conducted a probable cause review, as required, and found that the complaint did not establish probable cause for the two "military trespass" charges.
As a result, those charges were dismissed without prejudice, with the Title 8 immigration charge remaining.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Definition of "willfully" under 50 U.S.C. § 797	Knowledge of illegal entry satisfies willfulness for military trespass	Willfulness requires specific knowledge of the security regulation, not general unlawfulness	Willfulness requires knowledge that conduct is unlawful, but also knowledge of entering the restricted area—probable cause not established
Applicability of mens rea to military trespass statutes	General knowledge of unlawfulness of entry suffices	Must know entry is onto military property and that entry is unauthorized	Mens rea applies to knowing entry onto military property; complaint failed to allege knowledge of entering NMNDA
Specific intent element under 18 U.S.C. § 1382	Unlawful purpose (illegal entry into US) is sufficient	Must show knowledge of entering military property	Probable cause not established that defendant knew entry was onto military property
Probable cause standard for pre-information complaints	Complaint's facts sufficient for all elements	Facts do not show knowledge of boundary or regulations	Probable cause lacking for Title 50 and Title 18 charges; both dismissed

Bryan v. United States, 524 U.S. 184 (defining willfulness as knowledge that conduct is unlawful, usually not requiring knowledge of specific law)
Atwater v. City of Lago Vista, 532 U.S. 318 (magistrate judge required to review probable cause for warrantless arrests)
Rehaif v. United States, 588 U.S. 225 (presumption that Congress requires proof of knowledge for each element that criminalizes otherwise innocent conduct)
United States v. Allen, 924 F.2d 29 (interpreting "unlawful purpose" under 18 U.S.C. § 1382)
United States v. Parrilla Bonilla, 648 F.2d 1373 (discussing categories and intent requirements for 18 U.S.C. § 1382 offenses)
United States v. Floyd, 477 F.2d 217 (discussing requirement of knowledge for entry onto military reservation under 18 U.S.C. § 1382)