Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-08-01145/USCOURTS-ca8-08-01145-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Juan Jose Rincon-Nieto
Appellant
United States
Appellee

Document Text:

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 08-1145

___________

United States of America, *

*

Appellee, *

* Appeal from the United States

 v. * District Court for the

* Southern District of Iowa.

Juan Jose Rincon-Nieto, *

* [UNPUBLISHED]

Appellant. *

___________

Submitted: May 13, 2008

Filed: June 17, 2008

___________

Before RILEY, BOWMAN, and HANSEN, Circuit Judges.

___________

PER CURIAM.

Juan Jose Rincon-Nieto (Rincon-Nieto) pled guilty to a charge of illegal reentry

by a previously deported alien, in violation of 8 U.S.C. §§ 1326(a) and (b)(2). The

presentence report determined (1) Rincon-Nieto’s base offense level was 8, pursuant

to U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(a); and (2) Rincon-Nieto was subject to a 16-level increase under

U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii) because he was deported after conviction for a felony

crime of violence. After a three-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility,

Rincon-Nieto’s total offense level was 21, and with a criminal history category of IV,

Appellate Case: 08-1145 Page: 1 Date Filed: 06/17/2008 Entry ID: 3443825
1

The Honorable Robert W. Pratt, Chief Judge, United States District Court for

the Southern District of Iowa.

-2-

his resulting sentencing range was 57-71 months. The district court1

 sentenced

Rincon-Nieto to 57 months imprisonment. On appeal, Rincon-Nieto contends the

district court erred in finding that a State of Iowa conviction for an aggravated

misdemeanor crime of domestic assault, which was subject to an enhanced sentence

punishable by up to two years imprisonment based on a prior domestic assault

conviction, was a felony crime of violence under U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii), cmt.

n.2 (defining a felony offense as “any federal, state, or local offense punishable by

imprisonment for a term exceeding one year”). 

The Supreme Court’s recent decision in United States v. Rodriguez, 553 U.S.

__, 128 S. Ct. 1783, No. 06-1646 (May 19, 2008), supplies persuasive authority. In

Rodriguez, the Court held a state enhancement based on a recidivist provision is

applicable to a determination of a maximum term of imprisonment under the Armed

Career Criminal Act. Id. at 1793. Following the Rodriguez reasoning, by analogy,

the district court was correct in finding Rincon-Nieto’s 2003 Iowa conviction for a

recidivist enhanced domestic assault qualified as a crime of violence under U.S.S.G.

§ 2L1.2, thereby supporting the 16-level enhancement. Contrary to Rincon-Nieto’s

argument, a defendant’s prior record of convictions is relevant to an evaluation of the

seriousness of the subject state conviction. Id. at 1789. We affirm.

______________________________

Appellate Case: 08-1145 Page: 2 Date Filed: 06/17/2008 Entry ID: 3443825