MEMORANDUM **

Joaquin Paramo-Maciel appeals the sentence imposed following his guilty plea to attempted entry after deportation in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326.

Paramo-Maciel contends that the district court erred when it imposed a sentence in excess of the two-year statutory maximum under 8 U.S.C. § 1326. He asserts that Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224, 226-27, 118 S.Ct. 1219, 140 L.Ed.2d 350 (1998), has been effectively overruled by Nijhawan v. Hold er, - U.S. -, 129 S.Ct. 2294, 174 L.Ed.2d 22 (2009). As Paramo-Maciel concedes, Almendarez-Torres has never been expressly overruled and continues to constitute binding precedent. See, e.g., United States v. Garcia-Cardenas, 555 F.3d 1049, 1051 (9th Cir. 2009) (per curiam); United States v. Martinez-Rodriguez, 472 F.3d 1087, 1093 (9th Cir. 2007).

AFFIRMED.