Opinion ID: 162770
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Other Circuit Precedent

Text: 12 In United States v. Luna-Reynoso, 258 F.3d 111 (2d Cir.2001), the court confronted an argument essentially similar to defendant's. There, the government charged the defendant in 1999 with violation of § 1326 and relied on a 1987 burglary conviction as the prior aggravated felony for enhancement purposes under § 1326(b)(2), even though the defendant had been convicted of other offenses since 1987. The defendant conceded the existence and validity of the burglary conviction but argued that, in 1987, burglary was not included in the definition of aggravated felony. That change did not occur until 1996 when 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43) was amended by § 321 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA). As such, the defendant argued that his 1987 burglary conviction could not sustain an increased penalty under an amended § 1326(b). 13 The Second Circuit rejected this argument. It found that, in addition to adding burglary to the list of aggravated felonies, Congress also stated in the statute that the new definition of aggravated felony is to be used regardless of whether the conviction for the offense included in the definition was entered before, on, or after the September 30, 1996 effective date of IIRIRA. Id. at 114 (quotation omitted). Further, the commentary to the implementing sentencing guidelines noted that the term aggravated felony is defined at 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43) without regard to the date of conviction of the aggravated felony. Id. (quotation omitted). 14 While defendant here does not raise the precise issue of Luna-Reynoso, we think the broad intent of Congress to make the IIRIRA's new definition of aggravated felony retroactive as discussed in Luna-Reynoso forecloses any argument that only an immediately preceding felony can be considered for purposes of § 1326(b)(2). If a burglary which was not an aggravated felony when committed can later be considered as such for purposes of § 1326(b)(2) enhancement, we find it even less problematic to rely on defendant's 1992 burglary conviction for enhancement even if it did predate his later drug conviction. 15 The second instructive case is Mercedes, 287 F.3d 47. There, like here, the defendant protested an enhancement made on the basis of a felony other than the one alleged in the indictment. The indictment had alleged a 1984 burglary conviction, which, as mentioned above was not then an aggravated felony. After defense counsel objected, the probation officer substituted a 1987 conviction for possession and distribution of cocaine which qualified as an aggravated felony even under the earlier law. Again, defense counsel objected, this time arguing that the court should find that the defendant had been deported after his conviction for using an altered United States passport, an offense not deemed to be an aggravated felony. The passport charge was the conviction immediately preceding the defendant's most recent deportation. The district court rejected these arguments, and the Second Circuit affirmed. 16 Although Mercedes focuses on the defendant's contention that his plea was not knowing and voluntary because of the late substitution of felonies for purposes of the recidivist enhancement, the case is helpful here because the court takes for granted the government's authority to `substitute' a different aggravated felony for the one incorrectly listed in the indictment. Id. at 57-58 (finding no violation of Rule 11 where the court specifically informed the defendant that it was required to take his criminal history into account). Significantly for our purposes, there is no discussion of any infirmity in the sentencing court's refusal to rely solely on the immediately preceding passport violation for purposes of enhancement.