Court Opinion

ID: 9371746
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-02-16 19:00:31.766171+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:16:30.037330
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-50369        Document: 00516647925             Page: 1      Date Filed: 02/16/2023

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

                                      No. 22-50369
                                                                                     FILED
                                                                              February 16, 2023
                                    Summary Calendar
                                    ____________                                Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                                     Clerk
   United States of America,

                                                                     Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                            versus

   Geovanni Gonzalez-Solano,

                                              Defendant—Appellant.
                     ______________________________

                     Appeal from the United States District Court
                          for the Western District of Texas
                              USDC No. 4:21-CR-1035-1
                     ______________________________

   Before King, Higginson, and Willett, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
         Geovanni Gonzalez-Solano appeals his conviction and sentence for
   illegal reentry after removal under 8 U.S.C. §§ 1326(a) and (b)(1). For the
   first time on appeal, Gonzalez-Solano argues that § 1326(b) is
   unconstitutional because it permits a defendant to be sentenced above the
   statutory maximum under § 1326(a) based on the fact of a prior conviction
   that was not alleged in the indictment or found by a jury beyond a reasonable
         _____________________
         *
             This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-50369      Document: 00516647925          Page: 2   Date Filed: 02/16/2023

                                    No. 22-50369

   doubt. He has filed an unopposed motion for summary disposition and
   a letter brief correctly conceding that this issue 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). Gonzalez-Solano states that he has
   raised the issue only to preserve it for possible further review. Because
   summary disposition is appropriate under these circumstances, see Groendyke
   Transp., Inc. v. Davis, 406 F.2d 1158, 1162 (5th Cir. 1969), Gonzalez-Solano’s
   motion is GRANTED, and the district court’s judgment is AFFIRMED.

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