Opinions of the United
2003 Decisions States Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit
4-29-2003
USA v. Melendez
Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential
Docket 02-2661
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Recommended Citation
"USA v. Melendez" (2003). 2003 Decisions. Paper 607.
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NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
__________
No. 02-2661
__________
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
v.
LEONARDO M ELENDEZ
a/k/a
LEONARD M ELENDEZ
a/k/a
JIMMY LOPEZ
Leonardo Melendez,
Appellant
__________
On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
(Criminal No. 00-cr-00057-1)
District Judge: Judge Stewart Dalzell
__________
Submitted Under Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a)
April 25, 2003
___________
Before: SCIRICA, AM BRO, and GARTH, Circuit Judges
(Opinion Filed: April 28, 2003)
__________
OPINION
__________
GARTH, Circuit Judge:
Leonardo Melendez appeals from his judgment of sentence, arguing that the
application of the “career offender” sentencing enhancement violated Apprendi v. New
Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000). Our precedent holds otherwise. W e will affirm.
I.
Because we write solely for the benefit of the parties, it is unnecessary to recite the
facts of this case in detail. Melendez pled guilty to two counts of possession with intent
to deliver controlled substances (heroin and cocaine base, respectively) in violation of 21
U.S.C. § 841(a)(1); two counts of possession with intent to deliver heroin and cocaine
base, respectively, within a school zone in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 860; and one count of
possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking in violation of 18 U.S.C. §
924(c)(1)(B)(1). The District Court sentenced Melendez, inter alia, to 308 months
imprisonment.
Melendez=s timely appeal followed.
II.
We have jurisdiction to hear this appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.
On appeal, Melendez argues that the career offender sentencing enhancement that
the District Court imposed violated the principle of Apprendi v. New Jersey because his
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prior convictions were neither pled nor proven beyond a reasonable doubt. 1 As we have
previously explained, however, in Apprendi the Supreme Court “singl[ed] out ‘the fact of
a prior conviction’ as the exception to the rule that ‘any fact that increases the penalty for
a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury, and
proved beyond a reasonable doubt.’” United States v. Weaver, 267 F.3d 231, 250 (3d Cir.
2001) (quoting Apprendi, 530 U.S. at 490), cert. denied, 534 U.S. 1152 (2002). In
Weaver, we indicated that, in the absence of further direction from the Supreme Court, we
would continue to follow the Court’s earlier holding that “no due process violation occurs
when prior convictions are used to increase a statutory maximum without being charged
in an indictment and proved to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id. (citing
Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224, 239-41 (1998)).
Indeed, Melendez acknowledges that our precedent forecloses the success of his
appeal. See Appellant’s Br. at 8 (“Mr. Melendez seeks in the instant appeal to preserve
his right to relief should this Court en banc or the Supreme Court reconsider and overrule
the contrary precedent that governs this issue.”).
We will therefore affirm the judgment of the District Court.
TO THE CLERK:
1
Melendez had previously been convicted on three separate occasions for
possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance (twice for crack and once for
PCP).
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Please file the foregoing opinion.
/s/Leonard I. Garth
Circuit Judge