United States v. Yermian

Yermian (defendant), seeking DoD security clearance for his defense-contractor job, falsely denied a prior mail fraud conviction and falsely claimed employment at two companies on a security questionnaire, then signed a certification acknowledging prosecution risk under 18 U.S.C. Section 1001, which criminalizes knowingly false statements in a matter within federal agency jurisdiction. At trial, Yermian admitted knowing his statements were false but denied knowing the statements would reach a federal agency; the district court instructed the jury only that Yermian needed to have known or should have known the information would go to a government agency, rather than requiring proof of actual knowledge of federal jurisdiction, and the jury convicted him. The Ninth Circuit reversed.