United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT ___________

No. 01-2215 ___________

United States of America, * * Appellee, * * v. * Appeal from the United States * District Court for the Robert E. Downs, * Eastern District of Missouri. * Appellant. * [UNPUBLISHED] ___________

Submitted: November 7, 2001 Filed: November 15, 2001 ___________

Before HANSEN, FAGG, and BEAM, Circuit Judges. ___________

PER CURIAM.

Robert E. Downs pleaded guilty to making a false statement when purchasing a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(6), and being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). The district court1 sentenced him to 33 months imprisonment and 2 years supervised release. Downs argues on appeal, renewing the objection he presented below, that the court erroneously set his base offense level by characterizing as a crime of violence his prior Missouri conviction for statutory rape.

1 The Honorable Rodney W. Sippel, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri. We reject this argument as foreclosed by United States v. Bauer, 990 F.2d 373, 374-75 (8th Cir. 1993) (per curiam), and United States v. Rodriguez, 979 F.2d 138, 140-41 (8th Cir. 1992).

Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

A true copy.

Attest:

CLERK, U.S. COURT OF APPEALS, EIGHTH CIRCUIT.

-2-