Court Opinion

ID: 9957625
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-04 18:00:54.814034+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:18:30.172618
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-50788            Document: 45-1         Page: 1      Date Filed: 04/04/2024

           United States Court of Appeals
                for the Fifth Circuit
                                   ____________                               United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                       Fifth Circuit

                                    No. 23-50788
                                                                                     FILED
                                                                                   April 4, 2024
                                  Summary Calendar
                                  ____________                                     Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                                        Clerk
United States of America,

                                                                    Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                          versus

Luis Alfredo Nanez-Lopez,

                                            Defendant—Appellant.
                   ______________________________

                   Appeal from the United States District Court
                        for the Western District of Texas
                            USDC No. 4:23-CR-199-1
                   ______________________________

Before Jones, Smith, and Dennis, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam:*
       Luis Alfredo Nanez-Lopez appeals the sentence imposed following
his guilty plea conviction for illegal reentry after deportation in violation of 8
U.S.C. § 1326. For the first time on appeal, Nanez-Lopez challenges the
application of the enhanced penalty range in § 1326(b) as unconstitutional
because it permits a defendant to be sentenced above the statutory maximum

       _____________________
       *
           This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 23-50788        Document: 45-1       Page: 2    Date Filed: 04/04/2024

                                 No. 23-50788

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. As he correctly
concedes, this 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). He raises the issue to preserve it for Supreme Court review. He has
also filed an unopposed motion for summary affirmance further conceding
that the issue is foreclosed.
       Because summary affirmance is appropriate, see Groendyke Transp.,
Inc. v. Davis, 406 F.2d 1158, 1162 (5th Cir. 1969), Nanez-Lopez’s motion is
GRANTED, and the district court’s judgment is AFFIRMED.

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