Pacheco-Castillo

MEMORANDUM **

Appellant Victor Pacheco-Castillo appeals his conviction and sentence for illegal reentry of the United States after deportation, 8 U.S.C. § 1326 , arguing that his guilty plea was not knowing and voluntary and that the district court violated Ap- prendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 , 120 S.Ct. 2348 , 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), by increasing his offense level for a prior conviction under United States Sentencing Guideline § 2L1.2(b)(l)(B). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm.

Pacheco-Castillo argues that his guilty plea was unknowing and involuntary because the district court departed from the sentencing recommendation in his plea agreement. The district court conducted a thorough, proper Rule 11 plea colloquy prior to accepting Pacheco-Castillo’s plea. See Fed.R.Crim.P. 11. The district court emphasized that the plea agreement expressly stated that the parties’ joint sentence recommendation was not binding on the court and that departure from the recommendation would not entitle Pacheco-Castillo to withdraw from the agreement. See United States v. Camarillo-Tello, 236 F.3d 1024, 1028 (9th Cir.2001) (finding that sentencing courts do not have…