Court Opinion

ID: 9412907
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-01 22:00:34.020935+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T16:41:40.160013
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-50179        Document: 00516842483             Page: 1      Date Filed: 08/01/2023

             United States Court of Appeals
                  for the Fifth Circuit
                                    _____________
                                                                               United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                        Fifth Circuit
                                     No. 23-50179
                                 consolidated with                                    FILED
                                     No. 23-50186                                August 1, 2023
                                   _____________                                 Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                                      Clerk
   United States of America,

                                                                      Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                            versus

   Salvador Diaz-Diaz,

                                              Defendant—Appellant.
                     ______________________________

                    Appeals from the United States District Court
                         for the Western District of Texas
                     USDC Nos. 4:22-CR-697-1, 4:22-CR-713-1
                    ______________________________

   Before Smith, Higginson, and Engelhardt, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
         Salvador Diaz-Diaz appeals his conviction and sentence for illegal
   reentry after removal in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and (b). He also
   appeals the revocation of his supervised release and the sentence imposed
   upon revocation.
         With respect to his illegal reentry conviction and sentence, Diaz-Diaz

         _____________________
         *
             This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 23-50179      Document: 00516842483          Page: 2     Date Filed: 08/01/2023

                                     No. 23-50179
                                   c/w No. 23-50186

   contends that the application of § 1326(b)’s enhanced penalty provision is
   unconstitutional because it permits a defendant to be sentenced above the
   statutory maximum of § 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
   doubt. Diaz-Diaz has filed an unopposed motion for summary disposition
   and a letter brief conceding that the 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), and explaining that he raises the issue to preserve it
   for Supreme Court review.
          Because summary disposition is appropriate, see Groendyke Transp.,
   Inc. v. Davis, 406 F.2d 1158, 1162 (5th Cir. 1969), the motion is GRANTED,
   and the judgments are AFFIRMED.

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