FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION JUN 20 2016
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 14-50226
Plaintiff - Appellee, D.C. No. 3:13-cr-03821-LAB
v.
MEMORANDUM*
ROBERT DANNY CARMONA-LOPEZ,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of California
Larry A. Burns, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted June 14, 2016**
Before: BEA, WATFORD, and FRIEDLAND, Circuit Judges.
Robert Danny Carmona-Lopez appeals from the district court’s judgment
and challenges the 70-month sentence imposed following his guilty-plea
conviction for possession of heroin and methamphetamine with intent to distribute,
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.
§ 1291, and we affirm.
Carmona-Lopez contends that because the government did not prove, nor
did he admit, that he knowingly or intentionally possessed a schedule I or II
controlled substance, the district court erred in imposing a sentence greater than
one year. Carmona-Lopez’s argument is foreclosed by our decision in United
States v. Jefferson, 791 F.3d 1013 (9th Cir. 2015), cert. denied, 136 S. Ct. 1473
(2016). There, we held that a defendant’s knowledge of drug type is not an
element of the offense that the government must prove for a mandatory minimum
sentence to apply. See id. at 1016, 1019. While Jefferson involved the importation
statute, 21 U.S.C. § 960, the reasoning of that case is applicable here because
Section 841 is “structurally identical” to section 960. See Jefferson, 791 F.3d at
1017 n.4. Moreover, Jefferson affirmed long-standing precedent holding that,
under both statutes, knowledge of drug type is not an element of the offense. See,
e.g., United States v. Carranza, 289 F.3d 634, 644 (9th Cir. 2002). Under
Jefferson, the government was not required to prove that Carmona-Lopez knew
what type of drug he possessed in order to trigger the 20-year statutory maximum
under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C).
AFFIRMED.
2 14-50226