Villa-Lara

Background

On March 1, 1994, Villa-Lara was convicted in Nevada state court for the felony of possessing a “trafficking quanti- ty” of a controlled substance in violation of NRS 453.3385. 7516 UNITED STATES v. VILLA-LARA He was sentenced to three years imprisonment. Villa-Lara was deported on October 20, 1995. He was found in Reno, Nevada without permission on August 9, 2004. Villa-Lara was indicted on August 24, 2004, for unlawful reentry of a deported alien in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a). On October 22, 2004, Villa-Lara pleaded guilty to this charge.

At Villa-Lara’s sentencing on March 28, 2005, the district court calculated a total offense level of 21 using the Sentenc- ing Guidelines. The base offense level was 8, plus 16 levels for the prior Nevada conviction pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2, minus 3 levels for Villa-Lara’s acceptance of responsibility. The district court calculated a total criminal history of 4 (7 points), using the Nevada conviction, another state conviction for sale of a controlled substance, and a third state conviction for possession of drug paraphernalia. Based on the offense level and criminal history, the district court reached a…