Court Opinion

ID: 9881116
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-29 17:11:34.843179+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:48:16.118480
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-50295        Document: 00516913996             Page: 1      Date Filed: 09/29/2023

             United States Court of Appeals
                  for the Fifth Circuit
                                     ____________
                                                                               United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                        Fifth Circuit
                                      No. 23-50295
                                    Summary Calendar                                  FILED
                                    ____________                             September 29, 2023
                                                                                 Lyle W. Cayce
   United States of America,                                                          Clerk

                                                                      Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                            versus

   Donato Lopez-Arellano,

                                              Defendant—Appellant.
                     ______________________________

                     Appeal from the United States District Court
                          for the Western District of Texas
                             USDC No. 2:22-CR-2069-1
                     ______________________________

   Before King, Haynes, and Graves, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
         Donato Lopez-Arellano appeals his 27-month, above-guidelines range
   sentence for illegal entry following deportation, see 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) &
   (b)(2), contending that it violates Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466
   (2000), because it is greater than the two-year statutory maximum sentence
   of § 1326(a) and is based on a fact—his prior conviction for an aggravated

         _____________________
         *
             This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 23-50295     Document: 00516913996           Page: 2   Date Filed: 09/29/2023

                                    No. 23-50295

   felony—that was neither pleaded in the indictment nor found by a jury
   beyond a reasonable doubt or admitted by him in pleading guilty. Lopez-
   Arellano concedes that this issue is foreclosed by Almendarez-Torres v. United
   States, 523 U.S. 224 (1998), and he seeks to preserve the issue for possible
   Supreme Court review. Accordingly, he moves for summary disposition.
   The Government does not oppose the motion.
          Lopez-Arellano is correct that his argument is foreclosed by
   Almendarez-Torres. See United States v. Pervis, 937 F.3d 546, 553-54 (5th Cir.
   2019); United States v. Wallace, 759 F.3d 486, 497 (5th Cir. 2014). Therefore,
   “there can be no substantial question as to the outcome of the case,”
   Groendyke Transp., Inc. v. Davis, 406 F.2d 1158, 1162 (5th Cir. 1969), and
   summary disposition is proper. Accordingly, Lopez-Arellano’s motion for
   summary disposition is GRANTED, and the judgment is AFFIRMED.

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