Government's Second Motion to Denaturalize — United States v. Joff Stenn Wroy Philossaint (Document 600)

Summary

The Government's Second Motion to Denaturalize defendant Joff Stenn Wroy Philossaint, filed December 2, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Case No. 22-CR-80144-SMITH(s)(s). The motion states that a jury found Philossaint guilty on February 7, 2023 of obtaining citizenship contrary to law, 18 U.S.C. § 1425, and that the Court sentenced Philossaint on June 26, 2023, to 50 months' incarceration. It states that the forfeiture order was vacated on appeal and remanded, and that the conviction under section 1425 was not at issue on appeal. It argues that 8 U.S.C. § 1451(e) says the Court "shall" revoke the order admitting such person to citizenship, and asks the Court to order surrender of the certificate of naturalization or citizenship.

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Case 9:22-cr-80144-RS Document 600 Entered on FLSD Docket 12/02/2025 Page 1 of 6




                              UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
                              SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

                             CASE NO. 22-CR-80144-SMITH(s)(s)


   UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

   v.

   JOFF STENN WROY PHILOSSAINT,

         Defendant.


                  GOVERNMENT’S SECOND MOTION TO DENATURALIZE

        The United States respectfully moves this Court to denaturalize defendant Joff Stenn

 Wroy Philossaint.

        On September 8, 2022, a federal grand jury charged Philossaint with conspiracy to

 commit wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349; conspiracy to launder money, in violation

 of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h); wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, and obtaining citizenship

 contrary to law, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1425. D.E. 32; see also D.E. 58 (superseding

 indictment); D.E. 107 (second superseding indictment). On November 14, 2022, Philossaint

 pled guilty to the conspiracy charges. D.E. 93. On February 7, 2023, after a trial, a jury found

 Philossaint guilty of obtaining citizenship contrary to law. D.E. 195. On June 26, 2023, the

 Court sentenced Philossaint to 50 months’ incarceration, 3 years supervised release, a $400

 special assessment, $3,850,012.34 in restitution, and forfeiture. D.E. 311; D.E. 314. The

 same day, the Court issued a preliminary order of forfeiture, ordering forfeiture in the

 amount of $673,210. D.E. 312. Also on June 26, the government moved to denaturalize
Case 9:22-cr-80144-RS Document 600 Entered on FLSD Docket 12/02/2025 Page 2 of 6




 Philossaint. D.E. 310. On July 10, 2023, Philossaint filed a notice of appeal. D.E. 324. On

 August 9, 2023, the Court issued an amended judgment, correcting the amount of

 restitution. D.E. 336. On August 24, 2023, the Court issued an order “denying without

 prejudice until such time as the appeal process is complete” the government’s motion to

 denaturalize Philossaint. D.E. 343.

        On appeal, Philossaint did not challenge the jury’s finding that he was guilty of

 obtaining citizenship contrary to law; he argued only that the amount of forfeiture was too

 large. D.E. 598 at 5. In its opinion, the court of appeals noted that “Mr. Philossaint

 proceeded to trial on a . . . charge of obtaining citizenship by fraud, and the jury found him

 guilty of that charge. That conviction is not at issue in this appeal.” D.E. 598 at 5 n. 1. The

 court of appeals vacated the Court’s forfeiture order and remanded the case. D.E. 598 at 18.

 The court of appeals issued its mandate on July 31, 2025. D.E. 598.

        Philossaint was released from BOP custody on August 8, 2025. On October 15, 2025,

 the government filed an unopposed motion for a new preliminary order of forfeiture, in a

 smaller amount. D.E. 599. That motion is pending.

        Title 8, United States Code, Section 1451(e) provides,

        When a person shall be convicted under section 1425 of Title 18 of knowingly
        procuring naturalization in violation of law, the court in which such conviction
        is had shall thereupon revoke, set aside, and declare void the final order
        admitting such person to citizenship, and shall declare the certificate of
        naturalization of such person to be canceled. Jurisdiction is conferred on the
        courts having jurisdiction of the trial of such offense to make such
        adjudication.




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 Subsection (f) provides that “[a] person holding a certificate of naturalization or citizenship

 which has been canceled as provided by this section shall upon notice by the court by which

 the decree of cancellation was made . . . surrender the same to the Attorney General.”

        As quoted above, the statute mandates denaturalization when a person is

 “convicted” of violating 18 U.S.C. § 1425. For purposes of the Immigration and Nationality

 Act, “the term ‘conviction’ means, with respect to an alien, a formal judgment of guilt of the

 alien entered by a court . . . .” 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(48)(A). It is not clear whether this definition

 applies to section 1451, which concerns denaturalization of citizens, because a citizen,

 before denaturalization, is not an alien. See 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(3) (“The term ‘alien’ means

 any person not a citizen or national of the United States.”). Section 1451 does not otherwise

 define the term ‘conviction’. However, where a statute refers to “convictions” without

 defining the term, the Eleventh Circuit presumes that the statute intends the ordinary

 definition of that term, which is “the judgment of a jury or judge that a person is guilty of a

 crime as charged.” United States v. Tigua, 963 F.3d 1138, 1142–43 (11th Cir. 2020) (quoting

 Conviction, American Heritage Dictionary (5th ed. 2015)) (interpreting First Step Act

 § 402(b), 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f)). Therefore, Philossaint has indisputably been “convicted” of a

 violation of section 1425. That conviction occurred, at the latest, on June 26, 2023, when the

 court entered its judgment, and it may have occurred earlier, on February 7, 2023, when the

 jury returned its verdict. Either way, section 1451(e) specifies that the Court “shall”

 denaturalize Philossaint.




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Case 9:22-cr-80144-RS Document 600 Entered on FLSD Docket 12/02/2025 Page 4 of 6




        The Court denied the government’s previous motion to denaturalize Philossaint

 because his appeal was pending. However, there is no need for further forbearance in

 considering the government’s motion for denaturalization. In the first place, the Court

 retains jurisdiction to denaturalize a defendant while his case is on appeal, because “[t]he

 revocation is a simple ministerial task and involves no exercise of discretion because the

 revocation is statutorily mandated.” United States v. Maduno, 40 F.3d 1212, 1218 (11th Cir.

 1994). Maduno cited with approval United States v. Bridges, 90 F. Supp. 973, 974

 (N.D.Cal.1950), for the proposition that “the revocation does not have to wait until the

 defendant appeals his conviction.” Id. Furthermore, Philossaint did not appeal his

 conviction for violating section 1425, only his order of forfeiture. And Philossaint’s appeal is

 now complete. Although his case has been remanded to this Court, only the order of

 forfeiture is at issue on remand. Therefore, there is no reason to delay entry of the order of

 denaturalization.

        On December 1, 2025, the undersigned emailed Scott Sakin, Philossaint’s most

 recent attorney of record, for Philossaint’s position on this motion. On December 2, Sakin

 emailed the undersigned that “I no longer represent Joff Philossaint in the trial court.

 Accordingly, I am not authorized to speak on his behalf.” Sakin stated that Philossaint “may”

 have an immigration attorney and that Sakin would “hopefully speak to the attorney so that

 the attorney may contact you.” If the government learns Philossaint’s position on this

 motion from any attorney representing Philossaint, the government will inform the court. In




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Case 9:22-cr-80144-RS Document 600 Entered on FLSD Docket 12/02/2025 Page 5 of 6




 the meantime, the government will serve a copy of this motion by first class mail on

 Philossaint at his residence.

        WHEREFORE, the government respectfully moves this Court to denaturalize

 Philossaint and to order that he surrender his certificate of naturalization or citizenship.

                                             Respectfully submitted,

                                             JASON A. REDING QUIÑONES
                                             UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

                                       By: s/ Marc Osborne
                                           Assistant United States Attorney
                                           Court ID# A5500796
                                           500 S. Australian Avenue, Suite 400
                                           West Palm Beach, Florida 33401
                                           Tel: (561) 209-1014
                                           marc.osborne@usdoj.gov




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Case 9:22-cr-80144-RS Document 600 Entered on FLSD Docket 12/02/2025 Page 6 of 6




                                  CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

        I HEREBY CERTIFY that on December 2, 2025, I will cause the foregoing to be served

 by first class mail on pro se defendant Joff Stenn Wroy Philossaint at his residential address

 in Little Elm, Texas. To comply with Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 49.1(a), the

 government has not included Philossaint’s full residential address in this filing.

                                                    Marc Osborne
                                                    Assistant United States Attorney
                                                    Court ID# A5500796
                                                    500 S. Australian Avenue, Suite 400
                                                    West Palm Beach, Florida 33401
                                                    Tel: (561) 209-1014
                                                    marc.osborne@usdoj.gov


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