Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-05-01497/USCOURTS-ca8-05-01497-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Miguel Granados-Gonzalez
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 05-1497

___________

United States of America, *

*

Plaintiff - Appellee, *

* Appeal from the United States

v. * District Court for the

* Western District of Arkansas.

Miguel Granados-Gonzalez, also *

known as Perfecto Granados-Gonzalez, * [UNPUBLISHED]

*

Defendant - Appellant. *

___________

Submitted: June 20, 2005

Filed: July 29, 2005

___________

Before LOKEN, Chief Judge, MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD and COLLOTON,

Circuit Judges.

___________

PER CURIAM.

Miguel Granados-Gonzalez pleaded guilty to the charge of illegally reentering

the United States after being convicted of an aggravated felony and deported, a

violation of 8 U.S.C. §§ 1326(a) and (b)(2). The Presentence Investigation Report

recommended an eight-level increase because Granados-Gonzalez was previously

deported after an aggravated felony conviction. See U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(1)(C). The

sentencing hearing was held two weeks after the Supreme Court’s decision in United

States v. Booker, 125 S. Ct. 738 (2005). The district court overruled GranadosGonzalez’s objection to the eight-level enhancement, which resulted in an advisory

Appellate Case: 05-1497 Page: 1 Date Filed: 07/29/2005 Entry ID: 1934216
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guidelines sentencing range of 30-37 months in prison. The district court then

reviewed the sentencing factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) and concluded that a sentence

at the bottom of the advisory range, thirty months in prison, was reasonable.

On appeal, Granados-Gonzalez argues that the district court erred by using the

eight-level enhancement to determine the advisory guidelines sentencing range

because Booker and Shepard v. United States, 125 S. Ct. 1254 (2005), implicitly

overruled the decision in Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224 (1998),

that the fact of a prior conviction may be found by the sentencing judge and need not

be admitted by the defendant nor proved to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. Here,

there is a serious question whether Granados-Gonzalez’s guilty plea admitted the fact

of a prior aggravated felony conviction. But we need not decide that question

because as a panel we are obliged to follow our numerous post-Booker decisions

holding that Almendarez-Torres continues to be controlling law on this issue. See,

e.g., United States v. Bach, 400 F.3d 622, 634 (8th Cir. 2005).

Granados-Gonzalez does not separately argue that his sentence is unreasonable

if, as we have concluded, the district court correctly determined his guidelines

sentencing range. In any event, we are satisfied from our review of the sentencing

record that a thirty-month sentence is reasonable under Booker. Accordingly, the

judgment of the district court is affirmed. 

______________________________

Appellate Case: 05-1497 Page: 2 Date Filed: 07/29/2005 Entry ID: 1934216