Orozco-Vega

MEMORANDUM **

Francisco Orozco-Vega (“Orozco”) appeals the sentence imposed by the district court following his conviction by guilty plea for illegal reentry following deportation, in violation of 8 U.S.C. §§ 1326 (a). Orozco contends that the district court erred in imposing a 12-level increase in his base offense level, based on a prior conviction for a felony drug trafficking offense, pursuant to United States Sentencing Guidelines Manual (“USSG”) § 2L1.2(b)(l)(B). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3742 and 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We remand pursuant to United States v. Ameline, 409 F.3d 1073 (9th Cir.2005) (en banc), because it is unclear whether the district court would have imposed the same sentence had it known the sentencing guidelines were advisory.

The district court’s conclusion that a prior conviction is a qualifying offense for purposes of increasing a sentence is reviewed de novo. United States v. Ladwig, 432 F.3d 1001, 1003 (9th Cir.2005); United States v. Vidal, 426 F.3d 1011, 1014 (9th Cir.2005).

The government was not required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Orozco suffered a prior conviction. 1 See, e.g., United States v. Brown, 417 F.3d 1077,…