In United States v. Rivero, --- F.3d ---, No. 17-10114 (9th Cir. 2018), the Court affirmed the defendant's conviction for attempting to smuggle ammunition from the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 554(a).
The statute criminalizes fraudulently or knowingly exporting or attempt to export any “merchandise, article, or object” contrary to any law or regulation of the United States.
The district court refused to instruct the jury that § 554(a) required the government prove that the defendant knew he was exporting ammunition. Rather, it instructed merely that the attempt to export had to be knowing. In other words, so long as the defendant knew he was exporting some item, the jury could convict, even if the defendant did not know what item he was exporting or that it was illegal to export that item.
The panel held that the district court did not err in its instructions, because § 554 does not require the government to prove that the defendant knew the nature of the “merchandise, article, or object” that the defendant was exporting contrary to law.
