United States v. Castro

MEMORANDUM**

On appeal, Juan Benito Castro (Castro) challenges his sentence, asserting that the judge’s factfinding violated his constitutional rights under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments.

1. Judicial factfinding under an advisory Guidelines regime does not violate the Sixth Amendment. See United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 250-52, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005); see also United States v. Ameline, 409 F.3d 1073, 1081 (9th Cir.2005) (en banc). Booker did not alter the preponderance of the evidence standard for factfinding set forth in United States v. Howard, 894 F.2d 1085, 1090 (9th…