United States v. Jose Roman Ortega, AKA Romualdo Roman Ortega, Opinion

WIGGINS, Circuit Judge:

Jose Roman Ortega appeals his jury conviction and sentence for multiple drug— and firearm-related offenses. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we AFFIRM.

In doing so, we find that an INS agent violated the Sixth Amendment when he obtained, outside the presence of Ortega’s counsel, Ortega’s statement regarding the firearm used during the offenses. The tainted statement, however, may still be used for impeachment purposes. We also find that the district court did not err by limiting Ortega’s cross-examination of the INS agent to only inculpatory portions of…