Valencia-Meraz

MEMORANDUM **

Ezequiel Valencia-Meraz appeals from the 86-month sentence imposed following his guilty plea conviction of illegal reentry in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1326 . We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we vacate and remand.

Valencia-Meraz contends that his Fifth and Sixth amendment rights were violated by the district court’s application of a 16-level enhancement based on a predicate offense that was not charged in the indictment or found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. He also contends that Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224 , 118 S.Ct. 1219 , 140 L.Ed.2d 350 (1998), is presumptively overruled by superseding case law.

We, however, reject these contentions. See United States v. Von Brown, 417 F.3d 1077, 1079 (9th Cir.2005) (per curiam) (deeming the categorization of a prior offense “a legal question, not a factual question”); see also United States v. Weiland, 420 F.3d 1062 , 1079 n. 16 (9th Cir.2005) (holding that this court is bound to follow Almendarez-Torres even though it has been called into question, unless it is explicitly overruled by the Supreme Court).

However, as Valencia-Meraz was sentenced at a time when the Sentencing…