United States v. Gino Rodriquez

MEMORANDUM

Gino Rodriquez appeals the sentence imposed at a third sentencing for his 2004 jury conviction of being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922 (g)(1). See United States v. Rodriquez, 553 U.S. 377 , 128 S.Ct. 1783 , 170 L.Ed.2d 719 (2008). When the case was most recently before us, the government argued for the first time on appeal that Rodriquez’s 1986 California conviction for being under the influence of cocaine and heroin qualified as a prior drug offense within the meaning of the Washington State recidivist statute. The government said that Rodriquez’s criminal record, therefore, subjected him to the fifteen-year minimum sentence under the federal Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”). 18 U.S.C. § 924 (e). We remanded for the district court to consider this argument in the first instance. United States v. Rodriquez, 376 Fed.Appx. 748 (9th Cir.2010).

Rodriquez now appeals from the district court’s ruling that his 1986 conviction falls under Washington’s recidivist statute and, therefore, all of his three 1995 Washington convictions for delivering a controlled substance were “serious drug offenses” under ACCA. The district court sentenced…