Meza-Estrada
United States v. Meza-Estrada
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM **
Federal prisoner Hilario Meza-Estrada appeals from his conviction and 70-month sentence imposed following a guilty plea to being an illegal alien found in the United States after having been deported, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 . We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.
Meza-Estrada contends that the district court erred by increasing his sentence pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (b)(2) based on *545 judge-found facts, when he did not admit and a jury did not find beyond a reasonable doubt the facts of his prior conviction and/or its temporal relationship to his deportation. He further contends that the constitutional avoidance doctrine requires this court to interpret 8 U.S.C. § 1826 (a) in a manner that would limit his sentence to two years imprisonment. He also contends that Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224 , 118 S.Ct. 1219 , 140 L.Ed.2d 350 (1998), does not apply here because it was based on a Fifth Amendment and not a Sixth Amendment challenge. Finally, Meza-Estrada contends that in light of subsequent Supreme Court decisions, and changes to 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (b)(2), Almendarez-Torres is not binding precedent.