United States v. Jesus Duarte-Aldana

MEMORANDUM

Defendant-Appellant Jesus R. Duarte-Aldana was convicted of one count of illegal reentry after deportation, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (a). He appeals the district court’s decision to enhance his sentence under United States Sentencing Guidelines (“U.S.S.G.”) § 2L1.2(b)(1)(C), which increases an alien’s offense level by eight if he was previously deported after “a conviction for an aggravated felony.” Duarte-Aldana argues both: (1) that the prior conviction relied upon by the district court for the enhancement is not an “aggravated felony”; and (2) that even if this prior conviction does qualify as an “aggravated felony,” the district court was barred by the doctrine of collateral estoppel from making such a determination. We reject both of these arguments and affirm.

I

By reference, the Sentencing Guidelines include in them definition of “aggravated felony” “an offense described in [ 18 U.S.C. § 922 (g) ],” the federal felon in possession statute. See U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(1)(C) & cmt. n. 1; 8 U.S.C. § 1101 (a)(43)(E)(ii). Section 922(g), in turn, makes it unlawful for previously convicted felons to “possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm.... ” 18 U.S.C. §…