Opinion
No. 06-20420, Conference Calendar.
February 13, 2007.
James Lee Turner, Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas, Houston, TX, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Lyons Rhodes Vela, Houston, TX, for Defendant-Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, USDC No. 4:05-CR-444-ALL.
Before BARKSDALE, GARZA, and CLEMENT, Circuit Judges.
Daniel Escobar-Rico appeals from his guilty-plea conviction and sentence for attempting to enter the United States without consent after having been deported and after having been convicted of an aggravated felony in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326. Escobar-Rico argues that the district court erred by imposing a 16-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii) based upon his Texas conviction for burglary of a habitation. His argument is foreclosed. See United States v. Valdez-Maltos, 443 F.3d 910, 911 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 265, 166 L.Ed.2d 205 (2006); United States v. Garcia-Mendez, 420 F.3d 454, 456-57 (5th Cir. 2005), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 126 S.Ct. 1398, 164 L.Ed.2d 100 (2006).
Escobar-Rico also challenges, in light of Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), the constitutionality of § 1326(b)'s treatment of prior convictions as sentencing factors rather than elements of the offense that must be found by a jury. His constitutional challenge is foreclosed by Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224, 235, 118 S.Ct. 1219, 140 L.Ed.2d 350 (1998). Although he contends that Almendarez-Torres was incorrectly decided and that a majority of the Supreme Court would overrule Almendarez-Torres in light of Apprendi we have repeatedly rejected such arguments on the basis that Almendarez-Torres remains binding. See United States v. Garza-Lopez, 410 F.3d 268, 276 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 126 S.Ct. 298, 163 L.Ed.2d 260 (2005). Escobar-Rico properly concedes that his argument is foreclosed in light of Almendarez-Torres and circuit precedent, but he raises it here to preserve it for further review.
AFFIRMED.