United States v. Opeoluwa Adigun

567 F. App'x 708
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedMay 23, 2014
Docket12-15235, 12-15301
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 567 F. App'x 708 (United States v. Opeoluwa Adigun) 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. Opeoluwa Adigun, 567 F. App'x 708 (11th Cir. 2014).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

After a jury trial, co-defendants Opeolu-wa Adigun and Chukwuka Onyekaba were convicted of multiple counts primarily related to their alleged participation in a scheme in which they stole other individuals’ identities and used them to open financial accounts from which they would withdraw funds. Adigun was convicted of seven counts of access device fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1029(a)(2), (8), (5) (Counts 2-7, 15), ten counts of aggravated identity theft in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(l) (Counts 8-12, 16, 23-26), eight counts of bank fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1844 (Counts 13-14, 17-22), and one count each of conspiracy to commit access device fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1029(b)(2) (Count 1), immigration fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1546(a) (Count 27), Social Security fraud in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 408(a)(6) (Count 28), and passport fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1542 (Count 29). Onyekaba was convicted of thirteen counts of access device fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1029(a)(2), (3), (5) (Counts 2-7, 33-34, 36-37, 39, 41, 45), eleven counts of aggravated identity theft in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(l) (Counts 8-12, 32, 35, 38, 40, 42, 46), and one count each of conspiracy to commit access device fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1029(b)(2) (Count 1), attempted access device fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1029(a)(2), (b)(1) (Count 31), and mail theft in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1708 (Count 30). 1

At trial, the government introduced evidence to support its theory that the defendants, a romantic couple with children together, utilized Adigun’s position as a letter carrier with the U.S. Postal Service to intercept mail sent by financial institutions and intended for individuals on her mail route. After using these individuals’ identities to open financial accounts in said individuals’ names, the defendants would typically transfer the funds to other accounts and then use those funds to purchase gasoline, electronics, gift cards, and other items.

The government also introduced evidence that Adigun had stolen the identity of another Nigerian woman, Mary Afolabi, and had used that identification information to enter the United States, apply for and obtain naturalization, obtain a job as a postal worker, and open financial accounts.

On appeal, Onyekaba contends that there was insufficient evidence to convict him of mail theft, the aggravated identity theft counts, or access device fraud as charged in Count 2 for possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices. He also argues that the district court erred in allowing the government to introduce evidence that he was once stopped at a Macy’s department store for shoplifting *711 three watches. In addition, both defendants challenge the district court’s denial of their motions to suppress evidence obtained during a warrantless search of a motor vehicle in which they were driving. Finally, the defendants challenge their sentences, arguing that the district court erred in calculating the loss amounts. Seeing no error, we affirm.

I. MOTIONS TO SUPPRESS

On March 5, 2010, law enforcement officers obtained a warrant for Adigun’s arrest on charges that she had committed identity fraud in Douglas County. The next day, Detective Louis Guy of the Paulding County Sheriffs Office, Agent Dominick DelMastro of the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General, Officer Keith Bowles and Detective Jason Walden of the Hiram Police Department, and Agents John David Walker and Kevin Arline of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement participated in a traffic stop of the defendants. The officers initiated the stop after Onyekaba, driving a Lincoln Navigator, picked up Adigun outside her post office duty station upon the completion of her mail route. During the stop, the officers ordered Adigun out of the vehicle and arrested her pursuant to the arrest warrant. The officers, who did not have a search warrant for the Navigator, proceeded to search the vehicle, and they found fifteen $100 American Express and Walmart gift cards, which they later determined were purchased using the stolen identities of individuals who lived on Adi-gun’s mail route. The officers also discovered receipts of money orders sent to a “Margaret Adigun” in Nigeria from “Opi Adigun”, in amounts ranging from $100 to $700.

The defendants moved to suppress the evidence obtained from the search, arguing that the search violated the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures. After an evidentia-ry hearing, a magistrate judge issued a report and recommendation recommending that the district court deny the motions to suppress because the search was permissible both under the automobile exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement and as a vehicle search incident to arrest under Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. 332, 129 S.Ct. 1710, 173 L.Ed.2d 485 (2009). 2 After the defendants filed objections to the report and recommendation, the district court entered an order adopting the magistrate judge’s findings and denying the motions to suppress.

A district court’s ruling on a motion to suppress presents a mixed question of law and fact. United States v. Heard, 367 F.3d 1275, 1278 (11th Cir.2004). We review the district court’s findings of fact for clear error and its application of law to the facts de novo, viewing all facts in the light most favorable to the party that prevailed in the district court—in this case, the government. Id.

Under the Fourth Amendment, “searches conducted outside the judicial process, without prior approval by judge or magistrate, are per se unreasonable ... subject only to a few specifically established and well-delineated exceptions.” Gant, 556 U.S. at 338, 129 S.Ct. at 1716 (internal quotation marks omitted). In *712

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
567 F. App'x 708, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-opeoluwa-adigun-ca11-2014.