Case Name: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Hector HERNANDEZ-MESA, Defendant-Appellant
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2005-08-17
Citations: 146 F. App'x 727
Docket Number: No. 04-40737
Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Hector HERNANDEZ-MESA, Defendant-Appellant.
Judges: Before BENAVIDES, CLEMENT, and PRADO, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 146
Pages: 727–728

Head Matter:
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Hector HERNANDEZ-MESA, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 04-40737.
Conference Calendar.
United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.
Decided Aug. 17, 2005.
James Lee Turner, Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern Dis triet of Texas, Houston, TX, for PlaintiffAppellee.
Marjorie A. Meyers, Federal Public Defender, Laura Fletcher Leavitt, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Christina Arellano-Villarreal, Federal Public Defender’S Office Southern District of Texas, for Defendant-Appellant.
Before BENAVIDES, CLEMENT, and PRADO, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM:
Hector Hernandez-Mesa appeals his sentence following a guilty-plea conviction for being an alien found in the United States after deportation in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326.
For the first time, Hernandez-Mesa argues that the district court committed reversible plain error by adding 16 levels to his base offense level because he was convicted, prior to deportation, of a felony alien smuggling offense pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1324. Because he was convicted of transporting illegal aliens, an offense different from alien smuggling, Hernandez-Mesa concludes that the addition of 16 levels was unwarranted. He concedes that this argument is foreclosed by United States v. Solis-Campozano, 312 F.3d 164, 167-68 (5th Cir.2002). He nevertheless seeks to preserve the issue for possible Supreme Court review.
In Solis-Campozano, we concluded that all of the offenses listed in § 1324(a)(1)(A), which include transporting and harboring illegal aliens, are "alien smuggling" offenses for purposes of § 2L1.2(b)(l)(A)(vii). 312 F.3d at 167-68. Hernandez-Mesa's argument is thus foreclosed. See id.
For the first time, Hernandez-Mesa argues that the felony and aggravated felony provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b) are unconstitutional, both facially and as applied, under Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000). He correctly concedes that this argument is foreclosed by the Supreme Court's decision in Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224, 235, 118 S.Ct. 1219, 140 L.Ed.2d 350 (1998), but nevertheless he seeks to preserve the issue for possible Supreme Court review. See United States v. Izaguirre-Flores, 405 F.3d 270, 277-78 (5th Cir.2005) (noting that the Supreme Court in Apprendi did not overrule Almendarez-Torres), cert. denied — U.S. -, 126 S.Ct. 253, — L.Ed.2d -(2005).
Hernandez-Mesa argues for the first time in a supplemental letter brief that his sentence is illegal under United States v. Booker, - U.S. —-, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005), because the district court sentenced him under the mistaken belief that the guidelines were mandatory. Review is for plain error. United States v. Valenzuela-Quevedo, 407 F.3d 728, 732-33 (5th Cir.2005), cert. denied — U.S. -, 126 S.Ct. 267, — L.Ed.2d -(2005). Nothing in the record indicates that the district court would have imposed a different sentence had the guidelines been advisory. Id.
Accordingly, the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.
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.