
    UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Rodrigo ALVAREZ-GONZALEZ, Defendant-Appellant.
    No. 00-50165.
    D.C. No. CR 99-01016-GAF.
    United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.
    
      Submitted Feb. 12, 2001.
    
    Decided Feb. 23, 2001.
    Before LEAVY, THOMAS, and RAWLINSON, Circuit Judges.
    
      
      . The panel unanimously finds this case suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R.App. P. 34(a); 9th Cir. R. 34-4.
    
   MEMORANDUM

Rodrigo Alvarez-Gonzalez appeals the judgment of conviction and his 70 month sentence following his guilty plea to a single count of being a deported alien found in the United States in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326. Alvarez-Gonzalez contends that in light of Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), the district court erred by imposing a sentence in excess of the two-year maximum set forth in 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) on the basis of a prior conviction for an aggravated felony that was not charged in the indictment, submitted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Alvarez-Gonzalez also contends that Apprendi renders inapplicable Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224, 118 S.Ct. 1219, 140 L.Ed.2d 350 (1998) (holding that 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(2) is a sentencing factor and not a separate offense). These arguments are foreclosed by this court’s recent decision in United States v. Pacheco-Zepeda, 234 F.3d 411 (9th Cir.2000), as amended (Feb. 8, 2001) (order). Accordingly, the district court’s judgment is

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