Corona-Castaneda

MEMORANDUM **

In 1988, J. Isidro Gerardo Corona-Castaneda received a felony conviction for rape by force in violation of California Penal Code § 261. In 2003, he pled guilty to being a deported alien found in the United States in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 . The district court sentenced him to a 77-month term of imprisonment. Corona-Castaneda argues that the maximum statutory sentence under § 1326 is only two years because rape was not an “aggravated felony” at the time of his 1988 conviction. We hold that the 77-month sentence does not exceed the statutory maximum.

The maximum term of imprisonment under § 1326 depends on the defendant’s criminal history. The default maximum term is two years. 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (a). The maximum term rises to ten years if the defendant’s “removal was subsequent to a conviction for commission of,” inter alia, “a felony (other than an aggravated felony).” Id. § 1326(b)(1). The maximum term further increases to twenty years if the defendant’s “removal was subsequent to a conviction for commission of an aggravated felony.” Id. § 1326(b)(2).

Regardless of whether Corona-Castaneda’s prior rape conviction now counts as an “aggravated felony,” it…