United States v. Valdovino

Defendant appealed his sentence after pleading guilty to unlawfully entering the United States after being deported. The court affirmed the district court's application of a sentencing enhancement under U.S.S.G. 2L1.2(b)(1)(B) because defendant illegally reentered the country after a prior North Carolina conviction for felony drug trafficking, which is a drug offense punishable by more than one year in prison. The court held that North Carolina's legislatively mandated sentencing scheme, not a recommended sentence hashed out in a plea negotiations, determines whether an offender's prior North Carolina conviction was punishable by more than a year in prison. View "United States v. Valdovino" on Justia Law