Unpublished Disposition, 921 F.2d 282 (9th Cir. 1989)

MEMORANDUM^** 

Defendant Fernando Vazquez-Garcia, having pleaded guilty to illegal transportation of aliens, 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a) (1) (B), appeals an 18-month sentence imposed in excess of sentencing commission guidelines. Counsel for defendant finds no grounds for vacating the district court's departure and asks this court for permission to withdraw from the appeal, pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967). We grant counsel's request to withdraw and affirm the 18-month sentence.

The arrest of Vazquez-Garcia was the culmination of a high-speed, 20-mile car chase on April 19, 1989. The chase began on the Pala Road near Temecula, California and ended on I-15 near Lake Elsinore after Vazquez-Garcia's vehicle broke down. Vazquez-Garcia, who also attempted to escape on foot, was accompanied by three undocumented aliens.

The district court's 18-month sentence represents a 6-month upward departure from the maximum federal guideline sentence for Vazquez-Garcia's offense level (9) and criminal history (2). The court justified the upward departure on the ground that Vazquez-Garcia's high-speech chase endangered the lives of the aliens, the officers, and other drivers on the road. In U. S. v. Ramirez-DeRosas, 873 F.2d 1177 (9th Cir. 1989), a case involving virtually identical facts, we held that the endangerment of lives by a high-speed chase justified increasing a guideline sentence from 4 to 30 months. We affirm the district court's upward departure on the basis of Ramirez-DeRosas.

AFFRIMED.