Court Opinion

ID: 9368699
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-02-06 19:00:44.551149+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:16:10.193866
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-50624   Document: 00516635723   Page: 1   Date Filed: 02/06/2023

          United States Court of Appeals
               for the Fifth Circuit
                           ____________                   United States Court of Appeals
                                                                   Fifth Circuit

                            No. 22-50624
                                                                 FILED
                                                           February 6, 2023
                          Summary Calendar
                          ____________                      Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                 Clerk
   United States of America,

                                                   Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                versus

   Mario Rodolfo Chairez-Avila,

                                               Defendant—Appellant,

                        consolidated with

                          _____________

                            No. 22-50629
                          _____________

   United States of America,

                                                   Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                versus

   Mario Chairez-Avila,

                                               Defendant—Appellant.
Case: 22-50624         Document: 00516635723             Page: 2      Date Filed: 02/06/2023

                                          No. 22-50624
                                        c/w No. 22-50629

                     Appeals from the United States District Court
                          for the Western District of Texas
                       USDC Nos. 4:19-CR-31-1, 4:22-CR-87-1

   Before Stewart, Dennis, and Willett, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
          Mario Rodolfo Chairez-Avila appeals his conviction and sentence for
   illegal reentry into the United States under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and (b)(2), as
   well as the judgment revoking his term of supervised release for a prior
   offense. The latter challenge is unbriefed and thus abandoned. See United
   States v. Reagan, 596 F.3d 251, 254-55 (5th Cir. 2010).
          For the first time on appeal, Chairez-Avila contends that the
   recidivism enhancement in § 1326(b) is unconstitutional because it permits a
   sentence above the otherwise applicable statutory maximum established by
   § 1326(a) based on facts that are neither alleged in the indictment nor found
   by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. Although Chairez-Avila acknowledges
   that this argument is foreclosed by Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523
   U.S. 224 (1998), he nevertheless seeks to preserve it for possible Supreme
   Court review and has filed an unopposed motion for summary disposition.
          Because Chairez-Avila is correct that his argument is foreclosed, see
   United States v. Pervis, 937 F.3d 546, 553-54 (5th Cir. 2019), summary
   disposition is appropriate, see Groendyke Transp., Inc. v. Davis, 406 F.2d 1158,
   1162 (5th Cir. 1969). Accordingly, Chairez-Avila’s motion is GRANTED,
   and the district court’s judgments are AFFIRMED.

          _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.

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