Appellant was charged with two drug offenses, and requested deferred entry of judgment proceedings pursuant to Penal Code section 1000. The prosecutor asserted that appellant was ineligible because he had recently pleaded guilty in a federal case to a controlled substance violation, and therefore had a “prior conviction” which excluded him from participation in diversion. Appellant argued that his guilty plea should not be treated as a prior conviction because there had been no sentencing in that case. The trial court excluded appellant from the diversion program, and the appellate court affirmed. The word “conviction” means the ascertainment of guilt, which occurred as soon as the guilty plea was entered.