Court Opinion

ID: 9396559
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-05-23 00:00:24.214261+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:19:17.916387
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-50937         Document: 00516758640             Page: 1      Date Filed: 05/22/2023

              United States Court of Appeals
                   for the Fifth Circuit
                                      ____________
                                                                                United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                         Fifth Circuit
                                       No. 22-50937
                                     Summary Calendar                                   FILED
                                     ____________                                     May 22, 2023
                                                                                  Lyle W. Cayce
   United States of America,                                                           Clerk

                                                                       Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                             versus

   Fernando Hernandez-Cordova,

                                               Defendant—Appellant.
                      ______________________________

                      Appeal from the United States District Court
                           for the Western District of Texas
                               USDC No. 7:22-CR-114-1
                      ______________________________

   Before Higginbotham, Graves, and Ho, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
          Fernando Hernandez-Cordova appeals the sentence imposed after his
   guilty plea conviction for illegal reentry subsequent to removal, pursuant to
   8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and (b)(1). Hernandez-Cordova contends, for the first
   time on appeal, that it violates the Constitution to treat a prior conviction that
   increases the statutory maximum under § 1326(b) as a sentencing factor,

          _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-50937     Document: 00516758640           Page: 2   Date Filed: 05/22/2023

                                    No. 22-50937

   rather than as an element of the offense. Hernandez-Cordova concedes that
   this issue is foreclosed by Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224
   (1998), but he seeks to preserve the issue for future review. In addition, he
   has filed an unopposed motion for summary disposition.
          As Hernandez-Cordova concedes, the sole issue raised on appeal 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). Because his position “is clearly right as a matter of law so that 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), summary
   disposition is proper.     Accordingly, Hernandez-Cordova’s motion is
   GRANTED, and the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.

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