The Fifth Circuit case number is set. What DOJ wants to do with it isn’t.
In a filing this month, prosecutors asked for a 30-day extension, moving the government’s opening brief from July 15 to August 14, 2026. The stated reason: the Office of the Solicitor General “has not yet determined whether or on what grounds” to let the appeal proceed, more than eight weeks after DOJ filed the notice of appeal on May 8.
That notice followed a rough spring for the Fraud Section. A jury convicted Ramon Alexandro Rovirosa Martinez on FCPA conspiracy and substantive counts. Judge Kenneth Hoyt then granted Rovirosa’s post-trial motion in mid-April, dismissing the indictment and ordering his release, based on what the government calls a purported Confrontation Clause violation.
I’ve read plenty of DOJ notices of appeal. Filing one to preserve the deadline while the merits are still undecided isn’t unusual. Sitting on it for two months without a theory, then asking opposing counsel not to object to more delay, is a tell that this one is getting kicked upstairs for a real look before anyone commits paper to it.
Rovirosa’s team didn’t object. Mark August 14 down; that’s when we find out if the government actually shows up.
— Rebecca Lauren