United States v. Librado Lopez-Torres

This appeal involves the unlawful reentry of a deported alien whose sentence was enhanced due to a prior conviction for shooting at an occupied motor vehicle in violation of California Penal Code section 246. We hold that a conviction under California Penal Code 246 is categorically a crime of violence under Sentencing Guideline § 2L1.2, and affirm the enhancement.

I.

On December 13, 2004, Librado Lopez-Torres pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful reentry of a deported alien in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 . Lopez-Torres filed supplemental objections to the pre-sentence report’s (PSR) calculation of his offense level which increased the base level by sixteen for a prior crime of violence conviction. The government’s response defended the PSR’s calculations. Lopez-Torres argued that the district court should apply a categorical approach and then modified categorical approach to analyze his prior conviction under California Penal Code section 246. At the sentencing hearing, the district court engaged in a modified categorical analysis to find that Lopez-Torres’ section 246 conviction was a crime of violence resulting in a sixteen-level enhancement. This appeal followed.

II.

We…