United States v. Rodrigo Alejandro Morales-Perez

438 F.3d 971 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Rodrigo Alejandro MORALES-PEREZ, Defendant-Appellant. No. 05-10115. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted November 18, 2005. Filed February 22, 2006. Rene L. Valladares, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Las Vegas, NV, for the defendant-appellant. Robert A. Bork, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Las Vegas, NV, for the plaintiff-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Nevada; James C. Mahan, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CR-04-00094-JCM. Before: ALFRED T. GOODWIN, DIARMUID F. O'SCANNLAIN, and RICHARD C. TALLMAN, Circuit Judges. Opinion by Judge GOODWIN; Dissent by Judge TALLMAN. GOODWIN, Circuit Judge. 1 Rodrigo Alejandro Morales-Perez appeals his 70-month sentence for unlawful reentry of a deported alien. Morales-Perez contends that the district court erred in finding that his prior conviction for possession or purchase of cocaine base for purposes of sale is categorically a drug trafficking offense warranting a sixteen level enhancement under United States Sentencing Guideline (U.S.S.G.) § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A). We hold that Morales-Perez's conviction for…