United States v. Vega-Diaz

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit F I L E D REVISED JUNE 30, 2005 June 30, 2005 In the United States Court of Appeals Charles R. Fulbruge III Clerk for the Fifth Circuit _______________ m 04-41290 Summary Calendar _______________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, VERSUS SALVADOR VEGA-DIAZ, Defendant-Appellant. _________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas m 5:04-CR-473-1 ______________________________ Before DAVIS, SMITH, and DENNIS, his forty-six-month sentence of imprisonment, Circuit Judges. which is to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release. He argues that his sen- PER CURIAM:* tence under a mandatory application of the sentencing guidelines must be vacated in light Having pleaded guilty of illegal re-entry of United States v. Booker, 125 S. Ct. 738 after deportation, Salvador Vega-Diaz appeals (2005). We review this issue for harmless error, because Vega-Diaz did raise it in the district court. * Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has de- Our review of the record convinces us that termined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited cir- the district court would have imposed a lower cumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. sentence under advisory guidelines. Conse- quently, we vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing. United States v. Pennell, 409 F.3d 240, 246 (5th Cir. 2005); United States v. Gracia-Cantu, 302 F.3d 308, 313 (5th Cir. 2002). The decision to remand makes it unneces- sary for us to address whether the enhance- ment of Vega-Diaz’s sentence based on prior drug trafficking convictions pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(i) constitutes reversible error in light of United States v. Gutierrez-Ramirez, 405 F.3d 352, 353-60 (5th Cir. 2005). United States v. Angeles- Mendoza, 407 F.3d 742, 754 & nn.26-27 (5th Cir. 2005). The district court will have the benefit on remand of the record supplements provided by the government relative to this issue. Finally, Vega-Diaz argues that the “felony” and “aggravated felony” provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and (b) are unconstitutional in light of Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000). We agree with Vega-Diaz’s concession that this issue is foreclosed. See Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224, 247 (1998); United States v. Mancia- Perez, 331 F.3d 464, 470 (5th Cir. 2003). The judgment of sentence is VACATED and REMANDED for resentencing. 2