United States v. Krikor Baghdassar Tatoyan, A/K/A Krikor Tatoyan, United States of America v. Zenda Bedros Tatoyan, A/K/A Zenda TatoyanUnited States v. Krikor Baghdassar Tatoyan, A/K/A Krikor Tatoyan, United States of America v. Zenda Bedros Tatoyan, A/K/A Zenda Tatoyan
We examine the long-standing requirements surrounding the personal export of cash from the United States, the more recently enacted bulk cash smuggling prohibitions, and the ever-elusive requirement of willfulness. Here, as in many other areas, honesty remains the best policy.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
As they were about to board a flight to Paris at Los Angeles International Airport, Krikor and Zenda Tatoyan (“the Ta-toyans”) were stopped by United States Customs Inspector Chung J. Lou (“Inspector Lou”), who was conducting currency enforcement examinations of passengers on that flight. At the time, Krikor had $8,000 cash in his pants pocket and $17,601 cash in two pouches hanging around his neck underneath his sweater, while Zenda had $10,000 cash in a plastic bag in her purse and $43,717 cash in various pouches in her purse. Although Inspector Lou did not follow, to the letter, the Customs Service’s procedures for conducting currency examinations when he examined the Ta-toyans, 1 he did inform them that there was no law against taking money out of the United States but that, if they were carrying more than $10,000, they must declare it and file a form with the Customs Service. He also informed them that there would be no taxes or penalties on any money they declared. 2
When Inspector Lou asked the Tatoyans how much money they were carrying, Kri-kor responded that he was carrying $8,000 and Zenda said she was carrying exactly $10,000. Although, technically, a person need not fill out Customs Form 4790 unless carrying more than $10,000, Inspector Lou nonetheless asked Zenda to move to a nearby table and complete this form. On the form — which Zenda signed and Inspector Lou explained in detail — Zenda declared that she was carrying only $10,000.
Asked to produce the money, Zenda pulled a plastic bag from her purse that contained a bundle of exactly $10,000 cash. A subsequent search of the Tatoyans revealed the additional $43,717 Zenda was carrying, as well as the $8,000 in Krikor’s pants pocket and the $17,601 in his under-sweater pouches. When asked why they had responded the way they did when asked about the money, Krikor explained that the inspector had been talking quickly and that he did not want other passengers to hear how much money he and his wife were carrying. Zenda added that “people
As a result of these events, the Tatoyans were each charged with conspiracy, failure to report an attempted transportation of over $10,000 out of the. United States, bulk cash smuggling, and making a false statement to a government official. 3 On October 9, 2003, the Tatoyans agreed to a forfeiture settlement with the government under which $39,659 — one half of the total funds — -were administratively forfeited. The Tatoyans were later convicted by a jury of all counts and were each sentenced to pay a. $100,000 fine, serve three years probation, perform 360 hours of community service, and pay a $400 special assessment.
Before trial, the district court granted the government’s motion to exclude evidence regarding the apparently innocent purpose of the smuggled funds. The court also declined to adopt the Tatoyans’ proposed jury instructions with regard to bulk cash smuggling under
DISCUSSION
I. Sufficiency of the Evidence
The Tatoyans first argue that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support their currency reporting and bulk cash smuggling convictions under
A district court’s determination that sufficient evidence supports a conviction is reviewed de novo.
United States v. Weber,
Under the currency reporting statutes, a defendant acts “willfully” if he has “knowledge of the reporting requirement” and a “purpose to disobey the law.”
Ratzlaf v. United States,
These conclusions are unaffected by the argument that the currency examination procedures Inspector Lou failed to follow were “mandatory” according to the Customs Service’s internal policies.
4
Compliance with these internal agency regulations is not “mandated by the Constitution or federal law,”
see United States v. Caceres,
Therefore, Inspector Lou’s failure to follow the Customs Service’s internal procedures neither violated due process under
Caceres,
II. Exclusion of Evidence
The Tatoyans next argue that the district court abused its discretion when, on the grounds of irrelevancy, it refused to allow the Tatoyans to present evidence of the apparently legitimate source and benevolent purpose of the confiscated funds. The Tatoyans contend that evidence showing that they were transporting money for an innocent reason— and not as part of their involvement in an illicit activity such as terrorism, money laundering, or drug dealing — would tend to show that they lacked the criminal culpability necessary for conviction of the specific intent crimes of failure to report and bulk cash smuggling. “We review a district court’s ruling on the relevance of evidence for an abuse of discretion.”
United States v. Rubio-Topete,
III. Bulk Cash Smuggling Instruction
The Tatoyans next argue that the district court’s jury instructions for the relatively new offense of bulk cash smuggling,
see
The bulk cash smuggling statute,
Whoever, with the intent to evade a currency reporting requirement under section 5316, knowingly conceals more than $10,000 in currency or other monetary instruments on the person of such individual or in any conveyance, article of luggage, merchandise, or other container, and transports or transfers or attempts to transport or’ transfer such currency or monetary instruments from a place within the United States to a place outside of the -United States, or from a place outside the United States to a place within the United States, shall be guilty of a currency smuggling offense and subject to punishment pursuant to subsection (b).
“We review the district court’s formulation of jury instructions for an abuse of discretion,”
United States v. Fernandez,
A. Willfulness
Because the bulk cash smuggling statute is codified
under title 31, chapter 53, sub-chapter II of the United States Code, the Tatoyans argue that they can only be found guilty if they “willfully” violated the statute.
See
Whoever, with the intent to evade a currency reporting requirement under section 5316, knowingly conceals more than $10,000 in currency ... and transports or transfers or attempts to transport or transfer such currency ... from a place within the United States to a place outside of the United States ... shall be guilty of a currency smuggling offense and subject to punishment pursuant to subsection (b).
Subsection (b) then authorizes the court to impose a sentence of “not more than 5 years” for anyone “convicted of a currency smuggling offense under subsection (a).”
B. Temporal Nexus
The Tatoyans next argue that the language of
C. Merger
The final contention with respect to the bulk cash smuggling jury instruction is that it improperly merged the bulk cash smuggling and failure to report offenses such that the jury may have believed that a guilty verdict for failure to report necessarily required a guilty verdict for bulk cash smuggling.
The statute itself — as well as the- record — seem to belie this fear. The district court correctly instructed the jury that bulk cash smuggling requires that the defendant
“knowingly concealed
more than $10,000 in currency on his or her person.”
The Tatoyans contend, however, that the additional “concealment” element -does not cure the merger problem because every person at the airport the day the Tatoyans were confronted was concealing their, currency — whether in a pqcket, pouch, purse, bag, or wallet — and, therefore, anyone who failed to report their money in violation of § 5316 was also “smuggling” cash under
Finally, to the extent that the'two offenses appear to merge because virtually everyone guilty of one offense would also be guilty of the other offense, the Supreme Court has emphasized that:
Where ... a legislature specifically authorizes cumulative punishment under two statutes, regardless of whether those two statutes proscribe the “same” conduct under Blockburger, a court’s task of statutory construction is at an end and the prosecutor may seek and the trial court or jury may impose cumulative punishment under such statutes in a single trial.
Missouri v. Hunter,
IV. False Statement Instruction
The Tatoyans next argue that the district court erred by failing to instruct the jury that acting “willfully” means acting “deliberately and not out of confusion, mistake or surprise.” Again, on review, “the relevant inquiry is whether the instructions as a whole are misleading or inadequate to guide the jury’s deliberation.”
Fernandez,
The Tatoyans’ contention is incorrect for two reasons. First, the district court
did
instruct the jury that “[a]n act is done knowingly if the defendant is aware of an act and does not act or fail to act through
ignorance, mistake or accident.”
Using the words “ignorance, mistake or accident” to modify “knowingly,” rather than the words “confusion, mistake or surprise” to modify the word “willfully,” does not render the chosen instruction inadequate.
See United States v. Garcia,
Second, the district court’s instruction— which mirrored Ninth Circuit Model Jury Instruction 8.66 — defined “willfully” in a manner that fully comports with Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit holdings.
See Browder v. United States,
The Tatoyans’ final argument is that the $100,000 fines they each received are excessive under the Eighth Amendment.
See
As discussed in Part III,
supra,
because the district court properly instructed the jury on the elements of bulk cash smuggling, the jury’s verdict stands. However, these instructions did not ask the jury to determine whether the Tatoyans
willfully
violated
The bulk cash smuggling statute authorizes
only
a term of imprisonment as punishment,
see
At sentencing, the district court did not sentence either Krikor or Zenda to serve prison time, but instead sentenced each to pay a $100,000 fine and complete 360 hours of community service. Because we cannot, on this record, determine the extent to which any portions of the $100,000 fines were imposed as punishment for the Ta-toyans’ violations of the bulk cash smuggling statute, we vacate the Tatoyans’ sentences and remand to the district court for resentencing.
AFFIRMED IN PART; VACATED AND REMANDED IN PART.
Notes
. According to testimony presented at trial, a Customs Service handbook instructs currency examiners to provide travelers with form CP 503 — which explains the currency reporting requirements — and have them read and sign this form to confirm that they understand these requirements. Inspector Lou failed to follow these procedures.
. According to the evidence presented at trial, the currency reporting requirements were also posted on placards located at the Tatoy-ans’ ticket booth and at their departure gate, as well as in the Tatoyans' passports. Both Krikor and Zenda had traveled internationally prior to their anticipated November 8, 2003 flight.
. These charges were brought under
. See supra note 1.
. The Tatoyans disagree and argue that, because Congress authorized the Treasury Secretary to "prescribe regulations ... requiring reports on foreign currency transactions,”
. United States v. Conners,
Exclusion of this evidence also does not violate due process under
Chambers v. Mississippi,
. The jury instructions on this count were as follows:
First, the defendant knowingly concealed more than $10,000 in currency on his or her person in any conveyance, article of luggage, merchandise, or other container. Second, the defendant knowingly attempted to transport such currency from a place within the United States to a place outside the United States. Third, the defendant knew at the time of the alleged concealment he or she was required to file a report of the amount of money she was attempting to transport with the Secretary of Treasury. Fourth, the defendant intended to evade filing such a report.
. As discussed in Part V, however, this omission does have an effect on the penalty that may be imposed on the Tatoyans for violating the bulk cash smuggling statute.
. Even if the intent to evade the reporting requirements were required to arise at the time the money was first physically concealed, a rational jury would still have found the Tatoyans guilty, rendering any jury instruction error harmless.
See Neder v. United States,
. For example, a person who knowingly conceals $20,000 in his briefcase with the intent to evade the currency reporting requirements, but then "breaks down” at the airport and reports the full $20,000 on Form 4790, is technically guilty of bulk cash smuggling but not guilty of a failure to report. Similarly, a person who carries a wad of $20,000 cash in his bare hands (i.e., without "concealing” it), but refuses to report it on Form 4790, is technically guilty of a failure to report but not guilty of bulk cash smuggling.
. The Tatoyans also contend that the district court erred when it failed to instruct the jury
Even if Appellants’ contention had been properly raised, it would not have succeeded. “No culpable mental state must be proved with respect to federal agency jurisdiction in order to establish a violation of
.