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Parties Involved:
Juan Canas Cervantes-Sandoval
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 15-40387

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

 Plaintiff - Appellee 

v. 

JUAN CANAS CERVANTES-SANDOVAL, 

 Defendant - Appellant 

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Southern District of Texas 

USDC No. 1:14-CR-810-1 

Before JOLLY, HIGGINBOTHAM, and PRADO, Circuit Judges. 

PER CURIAM:*

Juan Canas Cervantes-Sandoval appeals the sentence he received 

following his guilty plea conviction for illegal reentry. The sole issue is whether 

the district court committed reversible error in imposing a sixteen-level 

increase under U.S. Sentencing Guideline § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii) based on its 

determination that Cervantes-Sandoval was previously deported following a 

conviction for a crime of violence (“COV”). 

 

* 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

December 13, 2016

Lyle W. Cayce

Clerk

 Case: 15-40387 Document: 00513794418 Page: 1 Date Filed: 12/13/2016
No. 15-40387

2 

Cervantes-Sandoval contends that his prior conviction for aggravated 

assault under Ga. Code § 16-5-21(a) is not a COV because the least culpable 

act under the statute: (1) does not meet the generic, contemporary definition of 

“aggravated assault” in U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2; and (2) does not have as an element 

the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against another. 

The arguments that Cervantes-Sandoval has raised are identical to 

those rejected by this Court in United States v. Torres-Jaime, 821 F.3d 577, 

581–85 (5th Cir. 2016). As Cervantes-Sandoval concedes, Torres-Jaime is 

binding precedent that forecloses his arguments, even in the wake of Mathis v. 

United States, 136 S. Ct. 2243 (2016). See United States v. Hernandez-Cifuentes, 

No. 16-40550, 2016 WL 6210703, at *1 (5th Cir. Oct. 24, 2016). Accordingly, 

for the reasons explained in Torres-Jaime, the district court did not err in 

determining that Cervantes-Sandoval’s prior conviction for aggravated assault 

was a COV and applying the sixteen-level § 2L1.2(b) enhancement. The 

judgment of the district court is therefore AFFIRMED. 

 Case: 15-40387 Document: 00513794418 Page: 2 Date Filed: 12/13/2016