Court Opinion

ID: 50454
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2010-04-26 00:51:52+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:03:30.548919
License: Public Domain

United States Court of Appeals
                                                                Fifth Circuit
                                                             F I L E D
               IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                       FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT                   June 6, 2007

                                                          Charles R. Fulbruge III
                                                                  Clerk
                            No. 06-41507
                        Conference Calendar

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                                    Plaintiff-Appellee,

versus

RICARDO OMAR GOMEZ-VALLES, also known as Ricardo
Gomez-Valles,

                                    Defendant-Appellant.

                        --------------------
            Appeal from the United States District Court
                 for the Southern District of Texas
                        USDC No. 7:06-CR-485
                        --------------------

Before SMITH, BENAVIDES, and DENNIS, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:*

     Appealing the Judgment in a Criminal Case, Ricardo Omar

Gomez-Valles (Gomez) preserves for further review his contention

that his sentence is unreasonable because this court’s post-

Booker** rulings have effectively reinstated the mandatory

Sentencing Guideline regime condemned in Booker.   Gomez concedes

that his argument is foreclosed by United States v. Mares, 402

F.3d 511 (5th Cir. 2005), and its progeny, which have outlined

     *
       Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that
this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except
under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
     **
          United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005).
                           No. 06-41507
                                -2-

this court’s methodology for reviewing sentences for

reasonableness.   Gomez also raises arguments that are foreclosed

by Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224, 235 (1998),

which held that 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(2) is a penalty provision and

not a separate criminal offense.   The Government’s motion for

summary affirmance is GRANTED, and the judgment of the district

court is AFFIRMED.