United States v. Martin Perez-Corona, AKA Martin Perez

Martin Perez-Corona pleaded guilty to a violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (a), illegal reentry into the United States after deportation. He had a prior Arizona State conviction for the unlawful use of means of transportation. The plea agreement he entered classified that offense as an aggravated felony. With that classification, and applying the enhancement provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (b)(2), the plea agreement provided for a sentencing range of 46-57 months. Contrary to the terms of the plea agreement, however, the district court refused to treat Perez-Corona’s prior conviction as an aggravated felony, and sentenced him to 19 months in prison.

The government appeals. It argues that the district court was bound by the terms of the plea agreement, and although the court could have rejected the agreement, the court could not amend it by imposing a sentence that treated Perez-Corona’s prior conviction as a “mere” felony. We conclude that the government waived this argument. We further conclude that the district court did not err by determining that Perez-Corona’s prior conviction for unlawful use of means of transportation under Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.) § 13-1803 was…