United States v. Rodriguez-Nunez

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 01-20273 Conference Calendar UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus DOMINGO RODRIGUEZ-NUNEZ, Defendant-Appellant. -------------------- Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas USDC No. H-00-CR-746-ALL -------------------- October 29, 2001 Before WIENER, BENAVIDES, and DENNIS, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Domingo Rodriguez-Nunez appeals his sentence from his guilty-plea conviction for being found illegally in the United States. See 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a), (b). He argues that the district court erred in applying a 16-level “aggravated felony” increase, pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A), because the rule of lenity requires the court to interpret the term “drug trafficking crime” under the guideline and the relevant statutes to exclude his state felony conviction for possession of a controlled substance. Rodriguez-Nunez acknowledges that his * 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 R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR.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. 01-20273 -2- argument is foreclosed by this court’s decision in United States v. Hinojosa-Lopez, 130 F.3d 691, 693-94 (5th Cir. 1997). He seeks to preserve the issue for possible review by the Supreme Court. The district court did not err in applying U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A). Hinojosa-Lopez, 130 F.3d at 693-94; see United States v. Hernandez-Avalos, 251 F.3d 505, 508-09 (5th Cir. 2001), cert. denied, (U.S. Oct. 1, 2001) (No. 01-5773). AFFIRMED.