US v. Dominguez: Dominguez was “a citizen of Mexico” with “a lengthy record or deportations from and subsequent reentries into the United States.” At least some of those deportations came after convictions for crimes, including possession with intent to distribute drugs in Arizona. In 2022, Dominguez was arrested in North Carolina and pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and resisting arrest in state court and was then charged with illegal reentry following conviction for an aggravated felony (the Arizona conviction). After pleading guilty, he was sentenced to 48 months in prison, an upward variance from the advisory Guideline range of 30 to 37 months.
On appeal, the Fourth Circuit affirmed Dominguez’s conviction & sentence. Reviewing for plain error, the court found no issue with the classification of Dominguez’s Arizona conviction as an aggravated felony. The court sidestepped the merits of the issue, concluding Dominguez could not show any error impacted his substantial rights because the aggravated felony classification only increases the statutory maximum for the offense and his sentence was below the otherwise-applicable maximum. The court also rejected a challenge to the calculation of the advisory Guideline range, concluding that Dominguez had failed to show how his resisting conviction was part of trying to avoid detection for the illegal reentry offense, and thus is could enhance both his offense level and criminal history. Nor was his sentence substantively unreasonable. As to his conviction, the court concluded that Dominguez had waived the ability to make that argument due to his guilty plea.
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