Opinion ID: 26127
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: background and proceedings in the district court.

Text: 3 Salvador Hernandez-Neave is a foreign national who is in the United States illegally. He was previously deported in 1998 and was apprehended following his illegal reentry in 1999. During his previous presence in the U.S., Hernandez was convicted of two other felonies. The first, in 1984, was for unlawfully carrying a firearm in an establishment licensed to sell alcoholic beverages. The second, in 1993, was for driving while intoxicated (DWI). 4 Hernandez was arraigned in district court on an indictment for illegal reentry to the United States subsequent to his conviction for commission of an aggravated felony. The government sought a conviction on the illegal reentry charge with sentencing guideline offense level increases consonant with a prior aggravated felony. As the sentencing guidelines define aggravated felony, it was necessary for at least one of Hernandez's prior felony convictions to be a crime of violence for the district court to apply the 16 level increase sought by the government. 5 Hernandez argued that neither of his prior convictions, even if felonies, were crimes of violence. At his arraignment, he declined a plea agreement but agreed to stipulate to the facts of his illegal reentry in a bench trial with a hearing to determine whether his prior convictions were crimes of violence. The district court conducted the bench trial shortly after the arraignment. 1 The district judge accepted the stipulation of facts and heard arguments as to whether the prior felonies were crimes of violence. 2 6 At the end of the bench trial, the district judge found Hernandez guilty of illegal reentry but refused to find that Hernandez's prior felonies were aggravated or were crimes of violence. Specifically, as to the illegal carrying conviction, the district judge ruled: 7 But because of the clear law in the Circuit that a felon in possession is not an aggravated felony within the meaning of the upward departure to 20 years in this case, I, specifically, until there is authority otherwise, will not find that unlawfully carrying a weapon is an aggravated felony without consequences. 8 See Transcript of Rearraignment held 10/26/00 at 24. 9 At the sentencing on December 22, 2000, however, the district judge reversed his opinion and stated that any such ruling was in error. He did so after reviewing the Probation Office's Pre-Sentencing Investigation (PSI) report, which recommended that a 16-level sentencing enhancement be applied on the grounds that each of Hernandez's prior convictions were for aggravated felonies. The district judge did not rule that the DWI constituted an aggravated felony because of then-conflicting and unsettled Fifth Circuit precedent. He did rule that Hernandez's illegal carrying conviction reflected an aggravated felony for the purposes of sentencing. Incorporating the Probation Office's PSI recommendation, the sentencing guidelines imposed a mandatory range of from 57 to 71 months' incarceration. The district court sentenced Hernandez to 60 months' imprisonment. Hernandez now appeals the district court's determination that illegal carrying is an aggravated felony constituting a crime of violence. 10