Court Opinion

ID: 9384492
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-04-04 00:00:22.08537+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:17:53.810345
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-50885         Document: 00516698625             Page: 1      Date Filed: 04/03/2023

              United States Court of Appeals
                   for the Fifth Circuit
                                      ____________
                                                                               United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                        Fifth Circuit
                                      No. 22-50885
                                  consolidated with                                   FILED
                                      No. 22-50886                                 April 3, 2023
                                    Summary Calendar                             Lyle W. Cayce
                                    ____________                                      Clerk

   United States of America,

                                                                      Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                             versus

   Marcelino Mendoza-Najera,

                                               Defendant—Appellant.
                      ______________________________

                     Appeals from the United States District Court
                          for the Western District of Texas
                               USDC No. 4:22-CR-251-1
                               USDC No. 4:22-CR-291-1
                     ______________________________

   Before Jones, Haynes, and Oldham, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
          Marcelino Mendoza-Najera appeals his sentence for illegal reentry
   under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and (b)(1), as well as the judgment revoking a term
   of supervised release he was serving for a prior offense. He has not briefed,

          _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-50885        Document: 00516698625      Page: 2     Date Filed: 04/03/2023

                                    No. 22-50885
                                  c/w No. 22-50886

   and has thus abandoned, any challenge to the revocation of supervised release
   or to his revocation sentence. United States v. Reagan, 596 F.3d 251, 254-55
   (5th Cir. 2010).
          In his sole issue on appeal, Mendoza-Najera argues that § 1326(b) is
   unconstitutional because it permits a sentence above the otherwise-
   applicable statutory maximum based on facts that are neither alleged in the
   indictment nor found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. He has filed an
   unopposed motion for summary disposition and a letter brief explaining that
   he has raised this issue only to preserve it for further review and conceding
   correctly 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), Mendoza-Najera’s
   motion is GRANTED, and the district court’s judgments are
   AFFIRMED.

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