Rivera-Lara
United States v. Rivera-Lara
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM **
Maurilio Rivera-Lara appeals from his 46-month sentence imposed by the district court following his guilty-plea conviction for being an alien in the United States after deportation, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 . We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.
Rivera-Lara contends that the district court erred in considering his prior conviction for purposes of enhancing his sen *163 tence, in that the fact of the prior offense was neither admitted, nor found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. This contention is foreclosed. See United States v. Weiland, 420 F.3d 1062 , 1079 n. 16 (9th Cir.2005) (noting that we continue to be bound by the Supreme Court’s holding in Almendarez-Torres, 523 U.S. 224 , 118 S.Ct. 1219 , 140 L.Ed.2d 350 (1998), that a judge may enhance a sentence on the basis of prior convictions, even if the fact of those convictions was not found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt); see also United States v. Beng-Salazar, 452 F.3d 1088, 1091 (9th Cir.2006) (rejecting the contention that the holding of Almendarez-Torres is limited to cases where a defendant has admitted his prior convictions during a guilty plea).