Guzman-Sandoval

MEMORANDUM **

Rene Guzman-Sandoval appeals the sentence imposed after his guilty plea to unlawful reentry by a deported, removed, and/or excluded alien, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (a). He contends that in increasing his sentence under 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (b)(2) and U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(l)(A) on the ground that he previously was deported after a conviction for an aggravated felony, the district court should have required proof beyond a reasonable doubt of the nature of the prior conviction and its temporal relationship to the immigration proceeding. This contention lacks merit because these matters are fundamental elements of the fact of the prior conviction, which may be found by the judge alone. See United States v. Moreno-Hernandez, 2005 WL 1560269 , No. 03-30387, slip op. 7773, 7790 n. 8 (9th Cir. July 5, 2005) (amended opinion); United States v. Quintana-Quintana, 383 F.3d 1052, 1053 (9th Cir.2004) (order denying rehearing and rehearing en banc).

Guzman-Sandoval was sentenced before the United States Supreme Court held in United States v. Booker, — U.S. -,-, 125 S.Ct. 738, 764 , 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005), that the Sentencing Guidelines were effectively advisory. The record does…