Sanchez-Sanchez

MEMORANDUM

Octavio Sanchez-Sanchez appeals the judgment of conviction and his 46 month sentence following his guilty plea to unlawful reentry by a previously deported alien. Sanchez-Sanchez contends that in light of Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 , 120 S.Ct. 2348 , 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), the district court improperly imposed a sentence in excess of the two-year maximum set forth in 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (a) because the government neither pled in the indictment nor established through the guilty plea that Sanchez-Sanchez had been deported following a prior conviction for an aggravated felony. Sanchez-Sanchez also contends that Apprendi renders inapplicable Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224 , 118 S.Ct. 1219 , 140 L.Ed.2d 350 (1998) (holding that 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (b)(2) is a sentencing factor and not a separate offense). These arguments are foreclosed by United States v. Pacheco-Zepeda, 234 F.3d 411 (9th Cir.2000), amended (Feb. 8, 2001).

The sentence is AFFIRMED. This matter is REMANDED to the district court with directions to correct the judgment of conviction to exclude the reference to 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (b), consistent with United States v. Rivera-Sanchez, 222…