United States v. Figueroa

── United States v. Figueroa ── Case No.: 24-1311 Court: Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Date: March 17, 2026 Category: General Not for Publication in West's Federal Reporter United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit No. 24-1311 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Appellee, v. MARK ANTHONY FIGUEROA, Defendant, Appellant. APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS [Hon. Richard G. Stearns, U.S. District Judge] Before Montecalvo, Thompson, and Aframe, Circuit Judges. David J. Nathanson, with whom Danya F. Fullerton and Jellison & Nathanson, LLP, were on brief, for appellant. Donald C. Lockhart, Assistant United States Attorney, with whom Leah B. Foley, United States Attorney, was on brief, for appellee. March 17, 2026  MONTECALVO, Circuit Judge. After a jury trial, Mark Anthony Figueroa was convicted of one count of money laundering conspiracy. Figueroa's conviction stemmed from his involvement in six cash transfers of roughly $100,000 each, which government witnesses testified involved drug proceeds. Figueroa now argues that, at trial, the district court improperly admitted (1) a cooperating witness's testimony about that witness's kidnapping and beating by drug cartel members and (2) certain testimony from three law enforcement witnesses, which alone or cumulatively constituted prejudicial overview testimony and testimony on ultimate issues. For the reasons below, we affirm Figueroa's conviction. I. Background & Procedural History The government alleges that Figueroa participated in six different cash transactions between February 2019 and May 2020. Figueroa was arrested on December 11, 2020, and charged with one count of money laundering conspiracy, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h). A. Pre-Trial Conference At a pre-trial conference held on March 23, 2023, the government informed the court that it planned to elicit testimony from Pedro Antonio Magana-Aladro ("Magana"), a cooperating witness, about a kidnapping Magana suffered at the hands of a drug cartel. - 2 -  The court remarked that "a witness can tell his or her own story as long as it's relevant to what we are doing. It sounds like it might be a kind of Breaking Bad interest in the testimony as it unfolds." Figueroa's counsel offered the following: "I think there will be an objection, though, Judge, to being kidnapped and things like that. I think that type of testimony has no relevance to this case." The court replied: "Well, what I would do is give a curative instruction at that point to the jury saying there is no allegation that the defendant was involved in any plot to kidnap this witness or anybody else." The parties and the court did not discuss the issue further. B. Trial The jury trial commenced in March 2023. The court instructed the jury on the first day of trial. Among other instructions, the court described the jurors' duty not to prematurely discuss the case: The first [instruction] sounds harder than it is, but actually I'm required to tell you not to discuss the case or anything about it with each other or anyone else before you begin your deliberations. That's the way the Court of Appeals -- words that [sic] I think would be absolutely impossible, given human nature, to swear you to an oath of silence. So I think what the Court of Appeals me