Serrano

MEMORANDUM ***

Jose Serrano (“Serrano”) appeals the district court’s admission of his prior conviction pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b), and its denial of his motion for acquittal, which was based on the district court’s finding of sufficient evidence to sustain Serrano’s conviction for possession of cocaine with an intent to distribute under 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1). We affirm the district court's decision. Because the parties are familiar with the facts, we recount them here only as necessary.

I. Admission of Prior Act Evidence

A district court’s decision to admit evidence of a prior conviction under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) is reviewed for abuse of discretion. United States v. Plancarte-Alvarez, 366 F.3d 1058, 1062 (9th Cir.2004), amended by 449 F.3d 1059 (9th Cir.2006). This court also reviews for abuse of discretion the district court’s balancing of the probative value of evidence against its prejudicial effect under Fed. R.Evid. 403. Id.

Serrano objected to the district court’s admission of his prior conviction for possession of powder cocaine on the grounds that it was too dissimilar to the current offense and thus did not satisfy the four-part test of…