OPINION OF THE COURT
MANSMANN, Circuit Judge.
A jury convicted Hurby Septimus McCalla pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1326 for his unauthorized reentry into the' United States as an alien who had previously been deported after an aggravated felony conviction. At the time of his deportation, McCalla was given a standard Form 1-294 notice which warned that his reentry into the United States without first procuring the permission of the United States Attorney General would expose him to a maximum prison sentence of two years. The two year penalty indicated on the form was a misstatement of the actual statutory maximum penalty of up to 15 years imprisonment. The main issue we address- is whether the government should have been precluded under the theory of fair warning, the rule of lenity, or the doctrine of entrapment from seeking a sentence in excess of two years and ultimately, whether the district court erred in sentencing McCalla to a prison term which substantially exceeded the two years described in the notice, 821 F.Supp. 363.
I.
Hurby Septimus McCalla1 was deported on or about April 9, 1991. At that time, he received and signed Immigration and Naturalization Service Form 1-294, which stated:
Should you wish to return to the United States you must write [the United States Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service] or the American Consular Office nearest your residence abroad as to how to obtain permission to return after deportation. By law (Title 8 of United States Code, Section 1326) any deported person who within five years returns without permission is guilty of a felony. If convicted he may be punished by imprisonment of not more than two years and/or a fine of not more than $1,000.00.
S.A. 1 (emphasis added).
The INS Form 1-294 given McCalla had not been revised to reflect changes in section 1326 of Title 8, U.S.C., which had occurred on November 18, 1988 and November 19, 1990. The 1988 amendment to section 1326 added a subsection (b), providing for enhanced penalties where the defendant has had prior felony convictions. A second amendment in 1990 increased the associated maximum fine from $1,000 to $250,000 in accordance with 18 U.S.C. § 3571(b)(3). Consequently, the portions of section 1326 applicable to McCalla at the time of his deportation were as follows:
[678]*678(a) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, any alien who—
(1) has been arrested and deported or excluded and deported, and thereafter
(2) enters ... or is at any time found in, the Ünited States, unless
(A) prior to his reembarkation at a place outside the United States ... the Attorney General has expressly consented to such alien’s reapplying for admission; or
(B) with respect to an alien previously excluded and deported, unless such alien shall establish that he was not required to obtain such advance consent under this chapter or any prior Act,
shall be fined under Title 18, or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, in the case of any alien described in such subsection—
* * * * * *
(2) whose deportation was subsequent to a conviction for commission of an aggravated felony, such alien shall be fined under such Title, imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both.
8 U.S.C. § 1326 (as amended Nov. 18, 1988, Pub.L. 100-690, 102 Stat. 4471; Nov. 29, 1990, Pub.L. 101-649, 104 Stat. 5059).
On or about April 15, 1992,2 McCalla was found in Philadelphia, having reentered the United States without first applying to the Attorney General of the United States for admission and receiving her express consent pursuant to section 1326. He was thus charged with a violation of section 1326(b)(2).
At trial, the court precluded defense counsel from raising to the jury the issue of whether McCalla could be properly charged pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b) in light of the errors contained in Form 1-294. The jury returned a guilty verdict on the single count indictment. At sentencing, McCalla argued that the government was bound to the misstatements made in Form 1-294 in seeking his sentence, and therefore that the government was precluded from seeking a sentence in excess of 2 years despite the 15 year maximum imprisonment provided in section 1326(b)(2). Nonetheless, the court calculated McCalla’s offense range at 100 to 125 months pursuant to the United States Sentencing Guidelines, and imposed a sentence of 112 months imprisonment with three years supervised release following completion of his prison sentence and a financial penalty in the amount of $50.00.3
II.
The issue of whether due process mandates that the government be limited to the maximum sentence promulgated by the government’s own inaccurate notice of the current law is one of first impression in this circuit.
McCalla argues that due process, fundamental fairness and the rule of lenity militate against imposition of a prison sentence in excess of that which the government has clearly represented it could be. He further argues that the public policy supporting the doctrine of entrapment would preclude the government from receiving a “benefit” from its act of misrepresentation. Thus McCalla seeks to have this case remanded to the district court for resentencing within a two-year sentence limitation.
Our sister courts of appeals have recently rejected the arguments which McCalla raises before us. In United States v. Perez-Torres, 15 F.3d 403 (5th Cir.1994), a ease involving the very same act of misrepresentation on the part of INS, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held:
[679]*679Form 1-294 is not a criminal statute. Hence, the defect [the defendant] complains of lies not in the underlying statute, but rather in a provision of a document with no relevant legal force. As [the defendant] concedes, section 1826 clearly and unambiguously articulated the penalties associated with a reentry offense. Thus, regardless of the inaccuracy of Form I-294, the statute under which [the defendant] was convicted provided notice adequate to satisfy the requirements of due process.
Id. at 406.
Similarly, in reversing the decision of its district court, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held in United States v. Sanchez-Montoya, 30 F.3d 1168, 1169 (9th Cir.1994) that,
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OPINION OF THE COURT
MANSMANN, Circuit Judge.
A jury convicted Hurby Septimus McCalla pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1326 for his unauthorized reentry into the' United States as an alien who had previously been deported after an aggravated felony conviction. At the time of his deportation, McCalla was given a standard Form 1-294 notice which warned that his reentry into the United States without first procuring the permission of the United States Attorney General would expose him to a maximum prison sentence of two years. The two year penalty indicated on the form was a misstatement of the actual statutory maximum penalty of up to 15 years imprisonment. The main issue we address- is whether the government should have been precluded under the theory of fair warning, the rule of lenity, or the doctrine of entrapment from seeking a sentence in excess of two years and ultimately, whether the district court erred in sentencing McCalla to a prison term which substantially exceeded the two years described in the notice, 821 F.Supp. 363.
I.
Hurby Septimus McCalla1 was deported on or about April 9, 1991. At that time, he received and signed Immigration and Naturalization Service Form 1-294, which stated:
Should you wish to return to the United States you must write [the United States Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service] or the American Consular Office nearest your residence abroad as to how to obtain permission to return after deportation. By law (Title 8 of United States Code, Section 1326) any deported person who within five years returns without permission is guilty of a felony. If convicted he may be punished by imprisonment of not more than two years and/or a fine of not more than $1,000.00.
S.A. 1 (emphasis added).
The INS Form 1-294 given McCalla had not been revised to reflect changes in section 1326 of Title 8, U.S.C., which had occurred on November 18, 1988 and November 19, 1990. The 1988 amendment to section 1326 added a subsection (b), providing for enhanced penalties where the defendant has had prior felony convictions. A second amendment in 1990 increased the associated maximum fine from $1,000 to $250,000 in accordance with 18 U.S.C. § 3571(b)(3). Consequently, the portions of section 1326 applicable to McCalla at the time of his deportation were as follows:
[678]*678(a) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, any alien who—
(1) has been arrested and deported or excluded and deported, and thereafter
(2) enters ... or is at any time found in, the Ünited States, unless
(A) prior to his reembarkation at a place outside the United States ... the Attorney General has expressly consented to such alien’s reapplying for admission; or
(B) with respect to an alien previously excluded and deported, unless such alien shall establish that he was not required to obtain such advance consent under this chapter or any prior Act,
shall be fined under Title 18, or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, in the case of any alien described in such subsection—
* * * * * *
(2) whose deportation was subsequent to a conviction for commission of an aggravated felony, such alien shall be fined under such Title, imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both.
8 U.S.C. § 1326 (as amended Nov. 18, 1988, Pub.L. 100-690, 102 Stat. 4471; Nov. 29, 1990, Pub.L. 101-649, 104 Stat. 5059).
On or about April 15, 1992,2 McCalla was found in Philadelphia, having reentered the United States without first applying to the Attorney General of the United States for admission and receiving her express consent pursuant to section 1326. He was thus charged with a violation of section 1326(b)(2).
At trial, the court precluded defense counsel from raising to the jury the issue of whether McCalla could be properly charged pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b) in light of the errors contained in Form 1-294. The jury returned a guilty verdict on the single count indictment. At sentencing, McCalla argued that the government was bound to the misstatements made in Form 1-294 in seeking his sentence, and therefore that the government was precluded from seeking a sentence in excess of 2 years despite the 15 year maximum imprisonment provided in section 1326(b)(2). Nonetheless, the court calculated McCalla’s offense range at 100 to 125 months pursuant to the United States Sentencing Guidelines, and imposed a sentence of 112 months imprisonment with three years supervised release following completion of his prison sentence and a financial penalty in the amount of $50.00.3
II.
The issue of whether due process mandates that the government be limited to the maximum sentence promulgated by the government’s own inaccurate notice of the current law is one of first impression in this circuit.
McCalla argues that due process, fundamental fairness and the rule of lenity militate against imposition of a prison sentence in excess of that which the government has clearly represented it could be. He further argues that the public policy supporting the doctrine of entrapment would preclude the government from receiving a “benefit” from its act of misrepresentation. Thus McCalla seeks to have this case remanded to the district court for resentencing within a two-year sentence limitation.
Our sister courts of appeals have recently rejected the arguments which McCalla raises before us. In United States v. Perez-Torres, 15 F.3d 403 (5th Cir.1994), a ease involving the very same act of misrepresentation on the part of INS, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held:
[679]*679Form 1-294 is not a criminal statute. Hence, the defect [the defendant] complains of lies not in the underlying statute, but rather in a provision of a document with no relevant legal force. As [the defendant] concedes, section 1826 clearly and unambiguously articulated the penalties associated with a reentry offense. Thus, regardless of the inaccuracy of Form I-294, the statute under which [the defendant] was convicted provided notice adequate to satisfy the requirements of due process.
Id. at 406.
Similarly, in reversing the decision of its district court, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held in United States v. Sanchez-Montoya, 30 F.3d 1168, 1169 (9th Cir.1994) that,
[N]either due process nor principles of equitable estoppel precludes imposing a prison term exceeding two years for illegal reentry on a defendant who had been advised erroneously by the INS before deportation that the maximum penalty for that offense was two years, [citing United States v. Ullyses-Salazar, 28 F.3d 932, 936-37 (9th Cir.1994) ]. We also conclude[ ] that such circumstances do not constitute a valid basis for a downward departure. [Citing id. at 938.]
Accord United States v. Samaniego-Rodriguez, 32 F.3d 242 (7th Cir.1994) (Form 1-294 cannot give rise to a due process violation and section 1326 unquestionably satisfies all due process requirements); United States v. Shaw, 26 F.3d 700 (7th Cir.1994) (pre-depor-tation warning that reentry is punishable by a maximum of two years does not render the 46-month sentence imposed a violation of due process).
We agree with our sister courts of appeals. Although the inaccuracy in Form 1-294 was regrettable, perhaps inexcusable, due process requires that it is the criminal statute which must clearly set forth the activity which constitutes a crime and the punishment authorized for committing such a crime. See United States v. Batchelder, 442 U.S. 114, 121, 99 S.Ct. 2198, 2203, 60 L.Ed.2d 755 (1979) (a statute which ambiguously specifies criminal conduct or the penalties authorized upon conviction raises a constitutional question). Section 1326(b)(2) clearly comports with the due process requirement of fair notice.
Similarly, the rule of lenity applies to ambiguous criminal statutes. Simpson v. United States, 435 U.S. 6, 14-15, 98 S.Ct. 909, 914, 55 L.Ed.2d 70 (1978) (ambiguities in either the substantive or sentencing provisions of criminal statutes justify application of lenity); United States v. Schneider, 14 F.3d 876, 879 (3d Cir.1994) (lenity only applies where reasonable doubt persists concerning ambit of statute even after review of statutory text, structure, legislative history and polices). Section 1326(b)(2) is not ambiguous and we decline to employ the rule of lenity to override the indisputable terms of the criminal statute.
Finally, the defense of entrapment serves to protect against a deception on the part of the government that induces a criminal act by “actually implanting] the criminal design in the mind of the defendant.” United States v. Russell, 411 U.S. 423, 436, 93 S.Ct. 1637, 1645, 36 L.Ed.2d 366 (1973). Furthermore, a claim of entrapment requires proof that the defendant lacked predisposition to commit the crime. Id. (entrapment defense requires government inducement and lack of predisposition); see also United States v. Wright, 921 F.2d 42, 44 (3d Cir.1990), cert, denied, 501 U.S. 1207, 111 S.Ct. 2803, 115 L.Ed.2d 976 (1991). Neither of those elements is shown here. Form 1-294 did not mislead MeCalla as to what constituted the specific criminal act; nor do we regard the misstatement as to the punitive sentence relevant to proving McCalla’s predisposition. MeCalla willfully reentered the United States despite the government’s express notice that such reentry would constitute a felony. Public policy militates against equity here.4
[680]*680III.
MeCalla raises other claims which we find meritless. MeCalla claims, for example, that the use of his prior aggravated felony conviction to enhance his punishment was in violation of the ex post facto clause. We hold, however, that because the violation of section 1326(b) occurred subsequent to the effective date of the statutory amendment which provided for an enhanced punishment, there was no ex post facto violation. The date of McCalla’s prior criminal conduct is not relevant for purposes of an ex post facto analysis here. See Gryger v. Burke, 334 U.S. 728, 732, 68 S.Ct. 1256, 1258, 92 L.Ed. 1683 (1948); United States v. Arzate-Nunez, 18 F.3d 730, 734 (9th Cir.1994) (“[flor purposes of analyzing ... statutes increasing penalties for future crimes based on past crimes, the relevant ‘offense’ is the current crime, not the predicate crime”).
MeCalla also asserts that evidence of the circumstances under which his reentry came to the attention of authorities and of his subsequent arrest processing was unduly prejudicial and improperly admitted into evidence, and hence that he is entitled to a new trial. MeCalla further contends that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel because defense counsel failed to object to the allegedly improper introduction of this evidence. In ruling on the motion in limine, the court held that the evidence was admissible to the extent that it was a foundation for an understanding of the sequence of events which established McCalla’s surreptitious and voluntary presence in the United States. Furthermore, in light of McCalla’s various abases, the evidence helped to establish his identity. We hold that it was well within the district court’s sound discretion to permit the evidence, and in light of the overwhelming case against MeCalla, we do not find any evidence of prejudice or a manifest miscarriage of justice requisite to a finding of ineffective assistance of counsel raised first on direct appeal. Moreover, testimony concerning the basis of McCalla’s prior sentence, given on redirect examination in response to questions asked during cross-examination, was invited, and admission of that evidence does not constitute plain error.
Finally, MeCalla asserts that the deportation hearing which he was afforded in 1991 did not comport with due process or the statutes and regulations apropos to such hearings. He argues that the alleged deficiency of his deportation hearing precludes using his prior deportation as the basis of the section 1326 charge against him. Specifically, MeCalla asserts that the use of a telephonic hearing directly contravened the mandate of 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b), which governs the determination of deportability. MeCalla further alleges that the deportation order was predicated upon a record of conviction which the immigration judge never saw, instead relying solely on McCalla’s admission and the representations of the prosecutor that such a record exists and as to its contents.5
We acknowledge that a severely deficient deportation proceeding which effectively deprives the defendant of his right of direct appeal may preclude use of that deportation as a predicate to prosecution under section 1326. See, e.g., United States v. Mendoza-Lopez, 481 U.S. 828, 838, 107 S.Ct. 2148, 2155, 95 L.Ed.2d 772 (1987) (“where the defects in an administrative proceeding foreclose judicial review of that proceeding, an alternative means of obtaining judicial review must be made available before the administrative order may be used to establish conclusively an element of a criminal offense”). MeCalla has failed to demonstrate, however, that he was effectively de[681]*681prived of his right of direct appeal and we will not dismiss the section 1326 charge against him.
IV.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of sentence entered on September 17, 1993, against Hurby Septimus McCalla in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania will be affirmed.