United States v. Mohammad Hassan Hammoude

Opinion of the Court filed by Circuit Judge TATEL.

TATEL, Circuit Judge:

Mohamiriad Hassan Hammoude was arrested after purchasing several custom-made rubber stamps that could be used to make copies of United States nonimmigrant visas. Officers of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, who arrested him, also confiscated a piece of paper on which was smeared an image of the stamps. On the basis of this and other evidence presented at trial, a jury convicted Hammoude of two counts of violating 18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(5), which bars the possession of instruments that can be used to make false…