Gomez-Valdes

MEMORANDUM *

Rene Gomez-Valdes appeals his jury conviction and sentence for importation and possession of marijuana under 21 U.S.C. §§ 952 , 960 and 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1), respectively. The government cross-appeals, contending that the district court inappropriately applied the advisory sentencing guidelines and erred in imposing a sentence of twenty-seven months. We affirm both Gomez Valdes’s conviction and his sentence.

Gomez Valdes contends that he did not execute a knowing and intelligent waiver of his rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 , 86 S.Ct. 1602 , 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), when he signed a waiver form presented to him by guards at the Calexico port of entry to the United States. However, any potential error in this regard was “harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.” Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 24 , 87 S.Ct. 824 , 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967); see also United States, v. Whitehead, 200 F.3d 634, 639 (9th Cir. 2000) (finding harmless error where “physical evidence [is] virtually conclusive of guilt.”). Gomez Valdes was stopped at the border with 100 pounds of marijuana, worth an estimated $29,844, concealed under a false floor, in a compartment that extended…