United States v. Bagliere

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 95-50369 Summary Calendar UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus LOUIS GEORGE BAGLIERE, JR., Defendant-Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court For the Western District of Texas (94-CR-95(1)) August 19, 1996 Before POLITZ, Chief Judge, JONES and SMITH, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Louis George Bagliere, Jr. pled guilty to conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, a violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. At the time of Bagliere’s arrest the officers seized his vehicle and money and these items subsequently were * Pursuant to Local Rule 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in Local Rule 47.5.4. forfeited to the government. Bagliere appeals, contending that his criminal convictions and sentence constitute a violation of the double jeopardy clause of the fifth amendment. This argument is foreclosed by the very recent decision in which the Supreme Court concluded that “in rem civil forfeitures are neither ‘punishment’ nor criminal for purposes of the Double Jeopardy Clause.”1 Accordingly, this assignment of error is meritless and the judgment appealed is AFFIRMED. 1 United States v. Ursery, 1996 WL 340815 at *16. 2