Vega-Barajas
United States v. Vega-Barajas
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM **
We affirm the 57-month sentence the district court imposed on Arturo VegaBarajas for being an alien in the United States following deportation and a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. 8 U.S.C. § 1326 ; 18 U.S.C. § 922 (g)(1). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742 (a). United States v. Plouffe, 436 F.3d 1062 (9th Cir.2006).
The district court properly found that Vega-Barajas’s prior conviction exposed him to a statutory maximum sentence of twenty years imprisonment for his current offenses. See Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224, 226-27 , 118 S.Ct. 1219 , 140 L.Ed.2d 350 (1998) (holding that prior convictions may be used to enhance a defendant’s sentence even if a jury did not find the fact of the conviction beyond a reasonable doubt); United States v. Pacheco-Zepeda, 234 F.3d 411, 414 (9th Cir. 2000) (holding that we must follow Almendarez-Torres until the Supreme Court overrules it).
We review Vega-Barajas’s ultimate sentence for reasonableness in light of the factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3553 (a). See United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 261 , 125 S.Ct. 738 , 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005). For a sentence to be reasonable,…