Court Opinion

ID: 9364745
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-01-20 01:00:41.446763+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:15:40.079024
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-50734        Document: 00516617465             Page: 1      Date Filed: 01/19/2023

             United States Court of Appeals
                  for the Fifth Circuit
                                     ____________
                                                                              United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                       Fifth Circuit
                                      No. 22-50734
                                    Summary Calendar                                 FILED
                                    ____________                               January 19, 2023
                                                                                Lyle W. Cayce
   United States of America,                                                         Clerk

                                                                     Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                            versus

   Jose Manuel Salazar-Hernandez,

                                              Defendant—Appellant.
                     ______________________________

                     Appeal from the United States District Court
                          for the Western District of Texas
                              USDC No. 4:22-CR-173-1
                     ______________________________

   Before Jones, Haynes, and Oldham, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
         Jose Manuel Salazar-Hernandez appeals his conviction and sentence
   for reentry after deportation under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and (b)(2). Salazar-
   Hernandez argues that treating a prior felony or aggravated felony conviction
   that increases the statutory maximum under § 1326(b) as a sentencing factor,
   rather than a separate element of the offense, violates the Constitution. He

         _____________________
         *
             This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-50734     Document: 00516617465           Page: 2   Date Filed: 01/19/2023

                                    No. 22-50734

   has filed an unopposed motion for summary disposition and a letter brief
   explaining that he has raised the issue only to preserve it for further review
   and correctly conceding that his argument is foreclosed by Almendarez-Torres
   v. United States, 523 U.S. 224 (1998). See United States v. Pervis, 937 F.3d
   546, 553-54 (5th Cir. 2019).
          Because summary disposition is appropriate, see Groendyke Transp.,
   Inc. v. Davis, 406 F.2d 1158, 1162 (5th Cir. 1969), Salazar-Hernandez’s
   motion is GRANTED, and the judgment of the district court is
   AFFIRMED.

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