United States v. Rigoberto Castellanos-Garcia

Rigoberto Castellanos-Gareia was convicted of entering the United States after having been deported. 8 U.S.C. § 1326 . He was given an enhanced sentence because he had committed an aggravated felony before his deportation. 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (b). He appeals his conviction on the theory that the government did not prove that he was free from official restraint and, therefore, did not prove that he had entered the country. He appeals his sentence because the aggravated felony was not charged in the indictment. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

On April 30, 2000, Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Carl A. Weiland discovered Castellanos walking north at least 100 yards from the border. Weiland, who had not seen Castellanos before that, approached and questioned him. Castellanos ultimately admitted that he was not a United States citizen and that he had come over the border fence, although he did not say where or when he had done so. Wei-land did not see him do so, and did not see an indication that Castellanos had walked directly from the fence to the road on which he was found. As Weiland explained, he had just come upon Castella-nos, and he had not been alerted to Castel-lanos’s presence by…