United States v. Aaron Gonzalez

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
United States v. Aaron Gonzalez, 93 F. App'x 101 (8th Cir. 2004)
Bye, McMillian, Per Curiam, Riley

United States v. Aaron Gonzalez

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Aaron Gonzalez (Gonzalez) appeals the sentence the district court 1 imposed after he pled guilty to participating in a drug conspiracy, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. Gonzalez argues that the two felony convictions upon which the court relied to classify him as a career offender did not qualify as convictions under U.S.S.G. § 4Bl.l(a), because the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services had issued certificates for both convictions that showed he had been “discharged” and “restored all [his] civil rights as provided by law.” In support of this argument, Gonzalez analogizes his case to United States v. Gallaher, 275 F.3d 784 (9th Cir. 2001), where a divided panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that (1) if a state had restored the defendant’s civil rights with respect to a prior conviction by issuance of a certificate, and (2) the certificate did not expressly contain a restriction pertaining to firearms, the prior conviction may not be used as a predicate offense under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 *102 U.S.C. § 924. 2 Here, even if this court were to agree with Gonzalez that Gallagher applies, Gonzalez’s argument fails because both certificates on Gonzalez included the following disclaimer: “The issuance of this Certificate of Discharge does not restore to the above captioned individual his/her right to bear arms.” We conclude that a state certificate which merely reinstates a former prisoner’s civil rights does not prevent the conviction from being counted under section 4B1.1(a). See U.S.S.G. §§ 4B1.2 n. 3, 4A1.2 n. 10. Accordingly, we affirm.

1

. The Honorable Richard G. Kopf, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the District of Nebraska.

2

. Gonzalez's reliance on United States v. Gallaher, 275 F.3d 784 (9th Cir. 2001), is misplaced. In Gallaher, the defendant was convicted of being a felon in possession of ammunition. Moreover, the holding was based on the plain language of 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20).

Reference

Full Case Name
UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Aaron GONZALEZ, Also Known as Aaron Elizondo, Also Known as Aaron Martinez, Appellant
Status
Unpublished