Mateo-Mendez

MEMORANDUM **

Francisco Mateo-Mendez was convicted for illegal reentry pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (a) and he was sentenced to 94 months in prison pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (b)(2). In an earlier appeal, he challenged his conviction, which we affirmed, and his sentence, which we reversed and remanded. United States v. Mateo-Mendez, 215 F.3d 1039 (9th Cir.2000). During resentencing, he was sen- *580 fenced to 77 months in prison. He now appeals this sentence. The balance of the facts and prior proceedings are known to the parties; they are not restated herein except as necessary. We affirm.

The maximum penalty for illegal reentry is two years in prison, 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (a), unless one of the enhancements in 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (b) applies. One of these enhancements, which increases the maximum penalty for illegal reentry to twenty years if the defendant had been previously convicted of an aggravated felony at the time of his removal, 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (b)(2), applies in this case.

The sentence Mateo-Mendez challenges in this appeal is well within the twenty year maximum provided for in 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (b)(2). Nonetheless, he argues that, because his prior conviction was neither…