United States v. Kurt Zamor

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedAugust 9, 2018
Docket16-16731
StatusUnpublished

This text of United States v. Kurt Zamor (United States v. Kurt Zamor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Kurt Zamor, (11th Cir. 2018).

Opinion

Case: 16-16731 Date Filed: 08/09/2018 Page: 1 of 20

[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________

No. 16-16731 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________

D.C. Docket No. 9:15-cr-80095-DTKH-1

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

versus

KURT ZAMOR,

Defendant - Appellant.

________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida ________________________

(August 9, 2018)

Before WILLIAM PRYOR, ANDERSON, and JULIE CARNES, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM: Case: 16-16731 Date Filed: 08/09/2018 Page: 2 of 20

In 2014, Defendant Kurt Zamor attempted to ship a container from Florida

to Haiti containing firearms and ammunition without providing written notice to

the shipping company. Before the container left the country, federal agents

discovered its contents. Defendant was arrested and charged with violating 18

U.S.C. §§ 554(a), 922(e), and 924(a)(1)(D) by attempting to knowingly deliver a

container carrying firearms and ammunition to a common or contract carrier for

shipment to an unlicensed person without giving written notice to the carrier.

After a trial, a jury found Defendant guilty and the district court sentenced him to

60 months in prison. On appeal, Defendant challenges the admission of expert

testimony from one of the Government’s witnesses, the sufficiency of the

evidence, and his sentence. We conclude that the Government presented sufficient

evidence to convict Defendant and that the district court did not err in its other

rulings. Accordingly, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

In April 2014, a gun store filed a multiple-sale report with the federal

government stating that Defendant had recently purchased two guns within a five-

day period. An agent with Homeland Security Investigations, part of the

Department of Homeland Security, forwarded that report to Customs and Border

2 Case: 16-16731 Date Filed: 08/09/2018 Page: 3 of 20

Protection (CBP). CBP identified a container ready to be shipped from the Port of

Palm Beach to Haiti that was listed in the name of Defendant’s father, Jean Zamor.

After investigating further, CBP discovered that Defendant had purchased the

container and decided to search it.

Searching through the 40-foot container, CBP agents found an SUV,

mattresses, furniture, tires, and a variety of other items. Towards the nose of the

container (the end farthest from the doors) the agents found a tool bag, a toolbox,

and a backpack, each containing guns or ammunition. The tool bag contained a

can full of ammunition of different calibers that had been mixed together. The tool

box was covered in plastic wrap and contained a variety of tools and, underneath

those tools, the lower parts of disassembled guns (e.g., the stock and grip) that had

been zip-tied together. The backpack, which was also wrapped in plastic, was

found inside an icemaker. The backpack contained the upper parts of disassembled

guns (e.g., the spring and the barrel) that had been zip-tied together and matched

the lower parts found in the toolbox. By the end, agents had found seven

disassembled guns, one intact gun, and 561 rounds of ammunition. Further

research showed that, of the eight guns found, seven belonged to Defendant. No

guns or ammunition were listed on the contents list for the container.

3 Case: 16-16731 Date Filed: 08/09/2018 Page: 4 of 20

Defendant, a former Jacksonville police officer, was living in Haiti at the

time working for the United Nations. Agents told Defendant that there was a

problem with his container, and he returned to the United States in August 2014 to

resolve it. Upon being confronted about the guns and ammunition, Defendant

claimed that they had been kept in a storage locker he owned along with other

items he intended to ship to Haiti, but that the guns and ammunition were not

meant to be shipped. He asserted that his pregnant girlfriend was supposed to have

picked up the guns and ammunition and that he had hired movers to load the

storage locker into the container but that he was not present when the container

was being loaded. Defendant also admitted that he never followed up with his

girlfriend to make sure she had picked up the guns and ammunition.

B. Procedural History

Defendant was arrested on May 27, 2015. Count I of the superseding

indictment charged Defendant with violating 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 922(e), and

924(a)(1)(D) by knowingly and willfully delivering or causing to be delivered a

container with one or more firearms to a common or contract carrier for shipment

in interstate and foreign commerce to a person not licensed as a firearm importer,

manufacturer, dealer, or collector without providing written notice to the carrier.

Count II charged violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and 554(a) for fraudulently and

4 Case: 16-16731 Date Filed: 08/09/2018 Page: 5 of 20

knowingly attempting to export firearms and ammunition to Haiti in violation of

§ 922(e) and § 924(a)(1)(D). Defendant pled not guilty.

At trial, the Government presented testimony from a variety of witnesses.

Federal agents testified about their investigation and search of Defendant’s

container. Defendant’s father testified that Defendant owned the goods in the

container, had arranged the shipping, and was the one who wanted the container

shipped to Haiti; Defendant’s father simply put his name on the paperwork. An

eyewitness testified that Defendant was present while his storage locker was being

loaded into the container and that the locker was empty when the movers finished.

And a former Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agent testified

that Defendant’s guns and ammunition were worth significantly more in Haiti than

in the United States. Although Defendant did not testify, the jury heard a

recording of his initial interview with federal agents where he claimed to have been

unaware that the guns and ammunition had been moved into the container.

After the Government presented its case in chief, Defendant moved for a

judgment of acquittal on the basis that the Government had produced insufficient

evidence. The district court denied the motion. Defendant did not present any

witnesses in his defense, and, after resting, renewed his motion for a judgment of

5 Case: 16-16731 Date Filed: 08/09/2018 Page: 6 of 20

acquittal. The court again denied the motion. The jury returned a verdict of guilty

on both Counts I and II.

At sentencing, the Presentence Investigation Report (PSR) identified that

U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1 applied to Count I and U.S.S.G. § 2M5.2 applied to Count II.

Section 2M5.2(a)(1) set Defendant’s base offense level at 26. The PSR concluded

that the recommended guideline range was 63 to 78 months imprisonment. After

considering both the PSR and the factors identified in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), the

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