United States v. Diego Sanchez

MEMORANDUM

Diego Avila challenges his conviction and sentence for illegal reentry into the United States under 8 U.S.C. § 1826 . We assume the parties are familiar with the facts of this case, so we do not recount them here. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742 (a), and we affirm.

1. The government concedes that the waiver of Avila’s appeal rights contained in the rejected plea agreement is unenforceable, and we agree. See In re Morgan, 506 F.3d 705, 713 (9th Cir.2007).

2. The district court rejected Avila’s plea agreement because it believed the sentence was too lenient given Avila’s criminal history, the character of the crime, and the need for deterrence. The district court did not reject the agreement in order to independently punish Avila’s violation of the terms of supervised release, or because it was “trying to force the government to pursue a charge it [did] not wish to press.” In re Vasquez-Ramirez, 443 F.3d 692, 698 (9th Cir.2006). The district court’s rejection of the agreement did not improperly invade the Executive Branch’s charging authority. See id.

3. Avila’s guilty plea was voluntary, and he had an adequate opportunity to withdraw…