United States v. Robert Ponce, Jr.
D. Nevada · Feb 26, 2026
- Jurisdiction
- federal
- Court
- D. Nevada
- Record ID
- united-states-v-robert-ponce-jr-2026-02-26
- Observed outcome
- The court issued a formal warning to the defendant regarding the use of AI-generated, non-existent case citations.
- Known monetary consequence
- Not recorded
Why this matter warrants attention
The court issued a warning to the defendant regarding the inclusion of 'hallucinogenic' citations to non-existent cases in his filings. The judge explicitly attributed these errors to the likely use of artificial intelligence and cautioned that future failures to verify citations could lead to sanctions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11.
Fabricated: Case Law | Multiple citations in Ponce's motions and replies cited non-existent cases; the court described them as 'hallucinogenic' and warned they may stem from AI-generated writing.
This record documents a Lawyer filing issue in D. Nevada, with the listed outcome: Warning.
Failure modes and consequences
- Fake Citations
- Criminal
- Trial
- Warning
- AI attribution
- Implied
- Recorded tool
- AI (unspecified)
- Known monetary consequence
- Not recorded
- Procedural posture
- The court issued an order denying a motion as moot and requiring supplemental briefing on a separate motion for restitution adjustment, while simultaneously issuing a warning regarding the defendant's use of AI-generated citations.
Damien Charlotin case archive
Publisher document archive. The recorded document is hosted in the upstream publisher archive.
Open underlying sourceA recorded source link is not a substitute for checking the underlying order, filing, opinion, or disciplinary record.
What this record does—and does not—establish
The court attributed the errors to the use of artificial intelligence.
Retained unchanged after audit: the existing summary is source-specific, non-placeholder, and supported by the recorded source link. Read the underlying source before relying on it for legal advice or a filing.
Latest evidence review: Primary Document Verified (high confidence).
Controls suggested by the public record
- Verify each cited authority, quotation, and proposition against the underlying source before filing.