IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 00-41153
Conference Calendar
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
MANUEL CRUZ-ISLAS,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas
USDC No. B-99-CR-263-1
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August 21, 2001
Before KING, Chief Judge, and POLITZ and PARKER, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Manuel Cruz-Islas appeals the 77-month sentence imposed
following his plea of guilty to a charge of illegal entry into
the United States after deportation in 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.
Cruz-Islas acknowledges that his argument is foreclosed by
the Supreme Court’s decision in Almendarez-Torres v. United
*
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that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent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. 00-41153
-2-
States, 523 U.S. 224 (1998), but he seeks to preserve the issue
for Supreme Court review in light of the decision in Apprendi v.
New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 490 (2000).
Apprendi did not overrule Almendarez-Torres. See Apprendi,
530 U.S. at 490; United States v. Dabeit, 231 F.3d 979, 984 (5th
Cir. 2000), cert. denied, 121 S. Ct. 1214 (2001). Cruz-Islas’s
argument is foreclosed. The judgment of the district court is
AFFIRMED.