
    UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff—Appellee, v. Martin AGUILAR-MERAS, Defendant—Appellant.
    No. 06-30183.
    United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.
    Submitted Aug. 7, 2006.
    
    Decided Aug. 11, 2006.
    Gregory M. Shogren, Esq., USYA-Office of the U.S. Attorney, Yakima, WA, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
    Kurt Rowland, Esq., FDWAID-Federal Defenders of Eastern Washington & Idaho, Yakima, WA, Tracy Staab, FPDWAFederal Public Defender’s Office (Eastern WA & ID), Spokane, WA, for Defendant-Appellant.
    
      Before: SCHROEDER, Chief Judge, REINHARDT and HAWKINS, Circuit Judges.
    
      
       This panel unanimously finds this case suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R.App. P. 34(a)(2).
    
   MEMORANDUM

We have reviewed the record, the opening brief and the response to the government’s motion for summary affirmance and we conclude that the questions raised in this appeal are so insubstantial as not to require further argument. See United States v. Hooton, 693 F.2d 857, 858 (9th Cir.1982) (per curiam) (stating standard). We have rejected the contention that the fact of the temporal relationship of the removal to the prior conviction is beyond the scope of the Supreme Court’s recidivism exception. See United States v. Castillo-Rivera, 244 F.3d 1020, 1025 (9th Cir.2001); see also United States v. Weiland, 420 F.3d 1062, 1079 n. 16 (9th Cir.2005) (noting that this court remains bound by the Supreme Court’s holding in Almendarez-Torres that a district court judge may enhance a sentence on the basis of prior convictions, even if the fact of those convictions was not found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt).

Accordingly, the government’s motion for summary affirmance of the district court’s judgment is granted.

AFFIRMED. 
      
       This disposition is not appropriate for publication and may not be cited to or by the courts of this circuit except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
     