United States v. Elisa Rodriguez-Gonzales

The Government appeals the district court’s sentencing of Defendant Elisa Rodriguez-Gonzales to two consecutive six-month terms for two illegal entries into the United States in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1325 . The Government argues that the court was required to impose the statutory maximum term of twenty-four months’ imprisonment for the second violation because it was a subsequent commission under § 1325. The district court held that it could not impose the statutory maximum because the Government failed to charge the second entry specifically as a second violation. The district court held that it had to treat the two violations independently and thus imposed two six-month sentences for two distinct violations. We affirm.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On or about May 29, 1988, and again on or about December 14, 1999, Rodriguez-Gonzales illegally entered the United States. On July 11, 2002, Rodriguez-Gonzales was found in San Bernardino County, California. The Government first charged her with one count of illegal entry under 8 U.S.C. § 1326 . She agreed to plead guilty in exchange for the Government’s promise to recommend a thirty-month sentence. However, when the court…