Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca5-13-40674/USCOURTS-ca5-13-40674-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Hilario Torres-Hernandez
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 13-40674

Summary Calendar

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee

v.

HILARIO TORRES-HERNANDEZ,

Defendant-Appellant

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Southern District of Texas

USDC No. 1:13-CR-108-1

Before KING, JOLLY, and HAYNES, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:*

Hilario Torres-Hernandez appeals the 57-month within-guidelines 

sentence imposed following his conviction for illegal reentry after deportation. 

He challenges the 16-level enhancement imposed pursuant to U.S.S.G. 

§ 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(i) for having been deported after being convicted of a drug 

trafficking offense. Torres-Hernandez argues that his Texas conviction for 

possession with intent to deliver cocaine did not qualify as a drug trafficking 

* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not 

be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH 

CIR. R. 47.5.4.

United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit

FILED

January 6, 2015

Lyle W. Cayce

Clerk

 

 Case: 13-40674 Document: 00512890731 Page: 1 Date Filed: 01/06/2015
No. 13-40674

offense because Texas’s definition of delivery is broader than the definition of 

a drug trafficking offense under § 2L1.2. He asserts that the Texas offense of 

delivery may be committed by “administering” a controlled substance. He 

further contends that, for the same reasons, the Texas offense does not qualify 

as an aggravated felony under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(2). Because TorresHernandez failed to object to the enhancement in the district court, we review 

for plain error. See United States v. Chavez-Hernandez, 671 F.3d 494, 497 (5th 

Cir. 2012).

In United States v. Teran-Salas, 767 F.3d 453, 460-62 (5th Cir. 2014), we 

rejected the identical argument raised by Torres-Hernandez and stated that 

“conviction under the administer prong is not a realistic probability because no 

previous Texas case has involved a conviction under this prong.” Id. at 461. 

We determined that the Texas offense of possession with the intent to deliver 

cocaine was a drug trafficking offense under § 2L1.2 and an aggravated felony

under § 1326(b)(2). Id. at 461-62 & n.5.

Torres-Hernandez fails to show that the district court plainly erred. See 

Teran-Salas, 767 F.3d at 461-62 & n.5. Accordingly, the judgment of the 

district court is AFFIRMED.

2

 Case: 13-40674 Document: 00512890731 Page: 2 Date Filed: 01/06/2015