United States v. Juan Leon-Cordova

677 F. App'x 431

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Decided: February 22, 2017
• Docket: 15-50527
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

Juan Leon-Cordova appeals from the district court’s judgment and challenges the 60-month sentence following his jury-trial conviction for being a removed alien found in the United States, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.

Leon-Cordova contends that the district court erred by enhancing his sentence under section § 1326(b). Specifically, he argues that Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224, 118 S.Ct. 1219, 140 L.Ed.2d 350 (1998), which permits an enhancement based on the existence of a prior felony, is invalid under Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 490, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000). As Leon-Cordova acknowledges, this argument is foreclosed. See United States v. Pacheco-Zepeda, 234 F.3d 411, 414 (9th Cir. 2000) (Apprendi “unmistakably carved out an exception for ‘prior convictions’ that specifically preserved the holding of Almenda rez-Torres”); see also Alleyne v. United States, - U.S. -, 133 S.Ct. 2151, 2160 n.1, 186 L.Ed.2d 314 (2013) (declining to revisit Almendarez-Torres).

AFFIRMED.

** This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.