IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 00-41115
Conference Calendar
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
DENIS RICARDO SORTO-FUENTES,
also known as Angel Gutierrez,
Defendant-Appellant.
- - - - - - - - - -
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas
USDC No. L-00-CR-401-1
- - - - - - - - - -
August 22, 2001
Before KING, Chief Judge, and POLITZ and PARKER, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Denis Ricardo Sorto-Fuentes appeals his 57-month sentence
imposed following his plea of guilty to a charge of being found
in the United States after deportation, a violation of 8 U.S.C.
§ 1326. He contends that the felony conviction that resulted in
his increased sentence under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(2) was an element
of the offense that should have been charged in the indictment.
Sorto-Fuentes acknowledges that his argument is foreclosed
by Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224 (1998), but
*
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 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that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent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 5TH CIR.
R. 47.5.4.
No. 00-41115
-2-
he seeks to preserve the issue for Supreme Court review in light
of Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000).
Apprendi did not overrule Almendarez-Torres. See Apprendi,
530 U.S. at 489-90; United States v. Dabeit, 231 F.3d 979, 984
(5th Cir. 2000), cert. denied, 121 S. Ct. 1214 (2001). Sorto-
Fuentes’s argument is foreclosed. The judgment of the district
court is AFFIRMED.