United States v. Serge Nkorina, 22-10532

Serge Nkorina was convicted by a jury of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping relating to the abduction and torture of Dr. Nader Shehata in Florida.
Nkorina and co-defendant Boccio plotted to kidnap Dr. Shehata, physically abducted him, and tried to extract financial information via force and threats.
Physical and forensic evidence, surveillance footage, witness testimony (including Boccio's cooperation), and Nkorina’s own admissions at various times linked him to the crime.
Nkorina represented himself at trial (with standby counsel), moved for a jury instruction on burglary (as a lesser included offense), and challenged evidence on several grounds.
He was sentenced to 240 months in prison with restitution later fixed at $123,255. Nkorina appealed his conviction and sentence but did not timely appeal the amended judgment imposing restitution.
The appellate court reviewed claims regarding evidentiary rulings, jury instruction refusals, sufficiency of the evidence, sentencing enhancements, and procedural aspects of the restitution order.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Exclusion of FBI Agent Kelley as witness	Nkorina: His due process rights were violated since Kelley was on government list	Government: Nkorina did not subpoena Kelley and was not prevented from testifying	No error; no violation since no subpoena sought
Denial of burglary jury instruction	Nkorina: Was entitled to instruction as a lesser included or alternative offense	Government: Burglary is not a lesser included of kidnapping; facts don't support it	No abuse of discretion; not required or supported
Sufficiency of the evidence for conviction	Nkorina: Boccio not credible; insufficient evidence for kidnapping/conspiracy	Government: Physical, forensic, and corroborated testimony ample for conviction	Evidence sufficient; convictions affirmed
Two-level sentence increase for perjury	Nkorina: Perjury enhancement improper as he merely testified in his own defense	Government: Record shows willful false testimony on material points	Enhancement appropriate; sentence affirmed
Challenge to restitution order	Nkorina: Did not receive timely records on restitution amounts	Government: No timely appeal from amended judgment with restitution	Restitution challenge dismissed (procedurally barred)

United States v. Maradiaga, 987 F.3d 1315 (11th Cir. 2021) (review standards for sufficiency of the evidence)
United States v. Singer, 963 F.3d 1144 (11th Cir. 2020) (application of sentencing enhancement for obstruction of justice)
United States v. Westry, 524 F.3d 1198 (11th Cir. 2008) (four-part test for reversible error in jury instruction omission)
United States v. Baston, 818 F.3d 651 (11th Cir. 2016) (plain error review when specific sufficiency challenges differ on appeal)
United States v. Duperval, 777 F.3d 1324 (11th Cir. 2015) (general factual findings sufficient for perjury/enhancement at sentencing)
United States v. Gillis, 938 F.3d 1181 (11th Cir. 2019) (elements of federal kidnapping)
Manrique v. United States, 581 U.S. 116 (2017) (timeliness requirements for appealing subsequent restitution orders)