Case Name: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Jose Arturo RAYA-RAMIREZ, Appellant
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2001-03-29
Citations: 244 F.3d 976
Docket Number: No. 00-3839NE
Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Jose Arturo RAYA-RAMIREZ, Appellant.
Judges: Before RICHARD S. ARNOLD, FAGG, and MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: Federal Reporter 3d Series
Volume: 244
Pages: 976–977

Head Matter:
UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Jose Arturo RAYA-RAMIREZ, Appellant.
No. 00-3839NE.
United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.
Submitted: March 20, 2001.
Filed: March 29, 2001.
Mary H. Buckley, Jennifer L. Gilg, Federal Public Defenders, Omaha, NE, for appellant.
Daniel A. Morris, Asst. U.S. Atty., Omaha, NE, for appellee.
Before RICHARD S. ARNOLD, FAGG, and MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD, Circuit Judge.
Jose Arturo Raya-Ramirez pleaded guilty to illegally re-entering the United States after deportation, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a). His sentence was enhanced under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(2) and U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(l)(A) because he had previously been deported after being convicted of an aggravated felony (four of them, in fact). The District Court sentenced him to five years and ten months (70 months) imprisonment and three years supervised release.
Raya-Ramirez argues on appeal that because the fact of a prior aggravated-felony conviction was not alleged in the indictment and was neither proved to a jury nor admitted through his guilty plea, the enhanced sentence violates the standards announced in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000). We reject this argument. Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224, 226, 118 S.Ct. 1219, 140 L.Ed.2d 350 (1998), which upheld the validity of the section 1326(b)(2) aggravated-felony enhancement for section 1326(a) violators, was not overruled by Apprendi. See 120 S.Ct. at 2362; United States v. Cortez-Delatorre, No. 00-2066, 2000 WL 1665078 (8th Cir., Nov.7, 2000); United States v. Aguayo-Delgado, 220 F.3d 926, 932 n. 4 (8th Cir.) ("In Apprendi, the Court left Almendarez-Torres untouched, although . [it] expressed a willingness to reconsider it."), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 121 S.Ct. 600, 148 L.Ed.2d 513 (2000). Accordingly, we affirm.
. The Honorable Thomas M. Shanahan, United States District Judge for the District of Nebraska.