Court Opinion

ID: 9376057
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-03-01 19:00:40.263192+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:17:04.210700
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-10657         Document: 00516660772             Page: 1      Date Filed: 03/01/2023

              United States Court of Appeals
                   for the Fifth Circuit
                                      ____________
                                                                               United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                        Fifth Circuit
                                       No. 22-10657
                                     Summary Calendar                                 FILED
                                     ____________                                 March 1, 2023
                                                                                 Lyle W. Cayce
   United States of America,                                                          Clerk

                                                                      Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                             versus

   Jose Guadalupe Romero Torres,

                                               Defendant—Appellant.
                      ______________________________

                      Appeal from the United States District Court
                          for the Northern District of Texas
                                USDC No. 4:22-CR-15-1
                      ______________________________

   Before King, Higginson, and Willett, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
          Jose Guadalupe Romero Torres appeals his conviction and 42-month
   sentence for illegal reentry after having been previously removed. He argues
   that it is a violation of the Sixth Amendment’s Notice Clause to treat a prior
   conviction that increases the statutory maximum under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)
   as a sentencing factor, rather than as an element of the offense. Romero

          _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-10657      Document: 00516660772            Page: 2    Date Filed: 03/01/2023

                                      No. 22-10657

   Torres concedes that the argument is foreclosed by Almendarez-Torres v.
   United States, 523 U.S. 224 (1998), but he wishes to preserve it for further
   review. The Government has moved without opposition for summary
   affirmance or, alternatively, for an extension of time to file its brief.
          As the Government asserts and as Romero Torres 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 the Government’s 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 affirmance is proper.
          Accordingly, the motion for summary affirmance is GRANTED, and
   the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED. The Government’s
   alternative motion for an extension of time is DENIED.

                                           2