United States v. Miguel Beltran-Ochoa

MEMORANDUM

Defendant Miguel Ambrosio Beltran-Ochoa appeals his sentence for attempted illegal entry after deportation, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 . Beltran-Ochoa argues that the district court erred by imposing a twelve-level sentencing enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(l)(B), because his prior conviction for solicitation to possess narcotic drugs for sale, Ariz Rev. Stat. § § 13-1002, 13-3408(A)(2), is not categorically a “drug trafficking offense.”

1. Beltran-Ochoa does not dispute that a prior conviction for possession of a narcotic drug for sale, under Ariz.Rev.Stat. § 13-3408(A)(2), would categorically be a “drug trafficking offense” for purposes of § 2L1.2(b)(l)(B). See U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(l) cmt. n. l(B)(iv) (defining “drug trafficking offense”). He argues, however, that a conviction for solicitation to possess narcotic drugs for sale is not categorically a “drug trafficking offense.”

2. The sentencing guidelines provide that a “drug trafficking offense” is defined to “include the offenses of aiding and abetting, conspiring, and attempting[ ] to commit” any of the offenses counted under § 2L1.2(b)(l). U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2 cmt. n. 5. Beltran-Ochoa argues that because…