US v. Rivera-Gomez, No. 08-10480

Illegal Reentry Sentence Vacated

In US v. Rivera-Gomez, No. 08-10480, the court vacated defendant's illegal reentry sentence, holding that the district court erred in determining that defendant's state resisting-arrest conviction could not be "relevant conduct" under U.S.S.G. section 1B1.3(a)(1)(A) as a matter of law, even if defendant intended to "avoid detection or responsibility" for his reentry offense.

As the court wrote:  "In calculating the defendant's sentencing range under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, the district court counted the defendant's prior state resisting arrest conviction as part of his criminal history,  see § 4A1.1, rather than as part of the offense level for his crime of conviction,  see § 2L1.2."

Related Resources

• Read the Ninth Circuit's Decision in US v. Rivera-Gomez, No. 08-10480