United States v. David Andrew Gonzalez

David Gonzalez appeals his conviction following a conditional guilty plea to being a deported alien found in the United States without permission, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 . Gonzalez contends that the district court should have granted his motion to dismiss the indictment because it was based on prior deportations that violated his due process rights. Gonzalez argues that the deportations impermissibly applied 8 U.S.C. § 1228 (b)(5) retroactively, thus depriving him of the ability to seek discretionary relief from deportation under 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (h). Gonzalez further argues that his waiver of judicial review was invalid and that he suffered prejudice because he could have asserted plausible grounds for relief from deportation. We have jurisdiction over the appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Gonzalez was indicted on one count of being an alien found in the United States after having been deported on January 18, 2000, and December 10, 1997, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 . His motion to dismiss the indictment was denied. Gonzalez then entered a conditional guilty plea, reserving his right to appeal the district court’s denial of his motion…