Case Name: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Gary L. FINKLEA, Defendant-Appellant
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2012-01-12
Citations: 451 F. App'x 860
Docket Number: No. 11-13376
Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Gary L. FINKLEA, Defendant-Appellant.
Judges: Before WILSON, PRYOR and BLACK, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 451
Pages: 860–861

Head Matter:
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Gary L. FINKLEA, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 11-13376
Non-Argument Calendar.
United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.
Jan. 12, 2012.
Anne R. Schultz, Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney, Shaniek Mills Maynard, Kathleen M. Salyer, Emily M. Smachetti, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Miami, FL, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Peter Vincent Birch, Federal Public Defender’s Office, West Palm Beach, FL, Michael Caruso, Federal Public Defender, Federal Public Defender’s Office, Miami, FL, for Defendant-Appellant.
Before WILSON, PRYOR and BLACK, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM:
Gary Finklea appeals his sentence of 180 months of imprisonment following his plea of guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Finklea argues that the district court violated his rights under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments by sentencing him as a career criminal based on prior convictions that were neither charged in his indictment nor admitted by him. Fink-lea's argument is foreclosed by Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224, 226-27, 118 S.Ct. 1219, 1222, 140 L.Ed.2d 350 (1998), and Finklea acknowledges that we are "bound to follow Almendarez-Torres unless and until the Supreme Court itself overrules that decision." United States v. Thomas, 242 F.3d 1028, 1035 (11th Cir.2001).
We AFFIRM Finklea's sentence.