Gaytan-Gonzalez

MEMORANDUM **

A jury convicted Defendant Jaime Gustavo Gaytan-Gonzalez of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. During Defendant’s trial, the government presented evidence of a prior conviction for possession of methamphetamine for sale, for the purpose of proving knowledge and intent. The district court gave the jury a limiting instruction regarding that evidence.

1. We review for abuse of discretion a district court’s admission of evidence under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b). United States v. Mayans, 17 F.3d 1174, *632 1181 (9th Cir.1994). Defendant argues that the 2003 conviction is not similar to the currently charged crime and, therefore, that the evidence is not relevant. We disagree. A prior conviction of possession with intent to distribute a drug is probative of knowledge and intent with regard to a current charge of the same offense. United States v. Arambula-Ruiz, 987 F.2d 599, 603 (9th Cir.1993). The prior conviction is sufficiently similar to the current charge because it “tend[s] to make the existence of the defendant’s knowledge more probable than it would be without the evidence.” Id. Thus, the…