Court Opinion

ID: 9372161
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-02-18 11:00:29.953271+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:16:33.440589
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-50148        Document: 00516650187             Page: 1      Date Filed: 02/17/2023

             United States Court of Appeals
                  for the Fifth Circuit
                                _________________
                                                                              United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                       Fifth Circuit
                                    No. 22-50148
                                consolidated with                                    FILED
                                    No. 22-50159                              February 17, 2023
                                  Summary Calendar                              Lyle W. Cayce
                                _________________                                    Clerk

   United States of America,

                                                                     Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                            versus

   Efrain Gonzalez-Pargas,

                                              Defendant—Appellant.
                     ______________________________

                     Appeal from the United States District Court
                          for the Western District of Texas
                              USDC No. 4:21-CR-959-1
                              USDC No. 4:21-CR-865-1
                     ______________________________

   Before Stewart, Dennis, and Willett, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
         Efrain Gonzalez-Pargas appeals his sentence for illegal reentry after
   removal, as well as the judgment revoking his term of supervised release for
   committing the new offense.            He has not briefed, and has therefore

         _____________________
         *
             This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-50148       Document: 00516650187         Page: 2    Date Filed: 02/17/2023

                                     No. 22-50148
                                   c/w No. 22-50159
   abandoned, any challenge to the revocation of supervised release or his
   revocation sentence. See Yohey v. Collins, 985 F.2d 222, 224-25 (5th Cir.
   1993).
            For the first time on appeal, Gonzalez-Pargas argues that his sentence
   exceeds the statutory maximum and is therefore unconstitutional because the
   district court enhanced his sentence under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b) based on facts
   that were neither alleged in the indictment nor found by a jury beyond a
   reasonable doubt. While he acknowledges this argument is foreclosed by
   Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224 (1998), he nevertheless
   seeks to preserve it for possible Supreme Court review.          Accordingly,
   Gonzalez-Pargas has filed an unopposed motion for summary disposition.
            Subsequent Supreme Court decisions such as Alleyne v. United States,
   570 U.S. 99 (2013), and Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000), did not
   overrule Almendarez-Torres. See United States v. Pervis, 937 F.3d 546, 553-54
   (5th Cir. 2019). Thus, Gonzalez-Pargas is correct that his argument is
   foreclosed, and summary disposition is appropriate. See Groendyke Transp.,
   Inc. v. Davis, 406 F.2d 1158, 1162 (5th Cir. 1969).
            Gonzalez-Pargas’s motion is GRANTED, and the district court’s
   judgments are AFFIRMED.

                                          2