United States v. Perez-Velasquez

DAVID A. NELSON, Circuit Judge.

This is a sentencing appeal in which the sole question presented is whether a prior conviction for statutory rape qualifies as a “crime of violence” under the federal sentencing guideline that governs offense-level enhancements. As did the district court, we conclude that the question must be answered in the affirmative.

I

The defendant, Mexican citizen Rafael Perez-Velasquez, entered the United States illegally in 1991. In October of 2000, Mr. Perez-Velasquez was convicted of statutory rape under the law of Tennessee. In December of that year an immigration judge…