United States v. Feliciano Rojas-Vivar

MEMORANDUM

Pursuant to a plea agreement, Feliciano Gilberto Rojas-Vivar pled guilty to three counts of harboring illegal aliens for profit in violation of 8 U.S.C. §§ 1324 (a)(1)(A)(iii) and (a)(l)(B)(i). Pursuant to the appeal waiver in the plea agreement, we dismiss his appeal.

Rojas-Vivar recognizes that his “waiver[ ] of appeal must stand or fall with the agreement of which [it is] a part. If the agreement is voluntary, and taken in compliance with Rule 11, then the waiver of appeal must be honored.” United States v. Portillo-Cano, 192 F.3d 1246, 1250 (9th Cir.1999) (quotation omitted). To determine whether Rojas-Vivar’s guilty plea and, by extension, his plea agreement were knowing and voluntary, we look to the Rule 11 plea colloquy. See United States v. Jeronimo, 398 F.3d 1149 , 1157 n. 5 (9th Cir.2005) overruled on other grounds by United States v. Jacobo Castillo, 496 F.3d 947, 957 (9th Cir.2007) (en banc). Because Rojas-Vivar did not object to the plea colloquy before the District Court, we re view only for plain error. United States v. Ross, 511 F.3d 1233, 1235 (9th Cir.2008). Under that standard, Rojas-Vivar “must show a reasonable probability that, but for the error,…