United States v. Matthaios Fafalios

E. GRADY JOLLY, Circuit Judge:

Matthaios Fafalios appeals his conviction for failing to maintain an oil record book aboard a foreign-flagged merchant sea vessel, in violation of 33 U.S.C. § 1908(a) and 33 C.F.R. § 151.25. Fafalios moved for a judgment of acquittal under Rule 29 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. For the following reasons, we reverse the district court’s denial of Fafalios’s Rule 29 motion. We vacate the judgment of conviction, and remand this action for entry of a judgment of acquittal.

I

Fafalios is a 65-year-old Greek citizen who has been a merchant seafarer for over…