United States v. Castillo, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 21755

Castillo, a Salvadoran national, had a 2004 California second-degree robbery conviction (Cal. Penal Code § 211), was removed in 2007, reentered in 2009, and later charged under 8 U.S.C. § 1326 for illegal reentry.
The PSR treated the § 211 conviction as a "crime of violence" under U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2, applying a 16-level enhancement that raised Castillo’s offense level to 24 (reduced to 21 for acceptance), yielding a Guidelines range of 46–57 months.
Castillo pleaded guilty to illegal reentry but objected to the 16-level § 2L1.2 enhancement, arguing § 211 is broader than the Guidelines’ generic robbery because it covers threats to property as well as threats to persons.
The district court overruled the objection, concluded § 211 is a crime of violence for § 2L1.2 purposes, but sentenced Castillo below the Guidelines to 24 months; Castillo appealed the enhancement ruling.
The Tenth Circuit reviewed de novo whether a § 211 conviction qualifies as a § 2L1.2 crime of violence, applying the categorical approach and considering whether § 211 corresponds to generic robbery or extortion.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Cal. Penal Code § 211 is a § 2L1.2 "crime of violence"	Castillo: § 211 overbroad vs. generic robbery because it includes threats to property, so it cannot be an enumerated crime of violence	Gov't: § 211 fits generic robbery when threats to persons; threats to property fit generic extortion — either is an enumerated crime of violence under § 2L1.2	Court: Affirmed — § 211 convictions qualify because threats to persons map to robbery and threats to property map to extortion, both crimes of violence under § 2L1.2

United States v. Juarez-Galvan, 572 F.3d 1156 (10th Cir.) (categorical approach for § 2L1.2 questions)
Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575 (1990) (use of the categorical approach to compare statutory elements to a generic offense)
Descamps v. United States, 133 S. Ct. 2276 (2013) (divisible statutes and limits on modified categorical approach)
United States v. Becerril-Lopez, 541 F.3d 881 (9th Cir.) (held Cal. Penal Code § 211 qualifies as a crime of violence under § 2L1.2)
Gonzales v. Duenas-Alvarez, 549 U.S. 183 (2007) (realistic-probability test for proving a statute reaches nongeneric conduct)
Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, Inc., 537 U.S. 393 (2003) (definition of extortion includes obtaining value by threats)
United States v. Ventura-Perez, 666 F.3d 670 (10th Cir.) (following Supreme Court approach for violent-felony analysis)