## Facts

- José Amado-Nunez was stopped at a customs checkpoint at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
- During a secondary inspection, a customs inspector found packages of stamps in the bottom of Amado-Nunez’s luggage that appeared to be Puerto Rico Department of the Treasury stamps used in the coin-operated machine tax-stamp program.
- A criminal investigator examining the stamps noticed irregularities, including repeated serial numbers that she believed would not appear on genuine stamps.
- When questioned, Amado-Nunez stated that he owned coin-operated machines but gave inconsistent answers about the scope of his business.
- Amado-Nunez did not give a clear explanation for where he obtained the stamps and did not provide receipts or other purchase documentation.
- Customs seized 887 stamps, which Puerto Rico Treasury officials later determined were counterfeit.
- The United States indicted Amado-Nunez under 18 U.S.C. § 2314 (third paragraph) for transporting counterfeit tax stamps in interstate or foreign commerce with unlawful or fraudulent intent, knowing they were counterfeit.
- Although the indictment alleged that Amado-Nunez arrived in Puerto Rico on a flight from the Dominican Republic, the prosecution did not present direct proof at trial identifying the origin of his flight.
- After a bench trial in the District of Puerto Rico, the district court found Amado-Nunez guilty, and he appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether the district court erred by admitting testimony from Puerto Rico Treasury officials describing the Puerto Rico tax-stamp program and the characteristics of genuine stamps.
2. Whether the evidence was sufficient to prove the “in interstate or foreign commerce” element of 18 U.S.C. § 2314 when the government did not directly prove the origin of Amado-Nunez’s flight.

## Decision

- The First Circuit affirmed.
- The court held that the Treasury officials’ testimony about the Puerto Rico tax-stamp regime and the authenticity of the stamps was properly admitted.
- The court held that the evidence permitted the trial judge to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Amado-Nunez transported the counterfeit stamps in interstate or foreign commerce, even without direct proof of the flight’s point of origin.

## Legal Principles

- A district court has discretion to admit testimony from government officials describing how a government stamp program works and how genuine stamps are issued and tracked when the testimony helps the factfinder decide whether items are counterfeit.
- In a bench trial, concerns that testimony will mislead a jury are reduced because the trial judge is presumed able to separate factual testimony from legal conclusions and apply the correct legal standard.
- The interstate-or-foreign-commerce element of 18 U.S.C. § 2314 may be established through circumstantial evidence; the government is not required to present direct testimony identifying the exact state or foreign country from which the items were transported if the surrounding circumstances allow a rational inference of such transportation.
- Allegations in an indictment are not evidence; the government must prove the elements at trial, but it may do so through reasonable inferences drawn from the trial record.
- On sufficiency review, an appellate court considers whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, a rational factfinder could find each element beyond a reasonable doubt.

## Conclusion

The First Circuit affirmed Amado-Nunez’s conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 2314, ruling that the district court properly admitted Treasury officials’ testimony describing Puerto Rico’s tax-stamp program and confirming the stamps were counterfeit, and that the interstate or foreign commerce element could be found beyond a reasonable doubt from circumstantial evidence arising from the customs-checkpoint setting despite the lack of direct proof of the flight’s origin.


United States v. Amado-Nunez, 357 F.3d 119 (2004)