United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT November 17, 2005
Charles R. Fulbruge III
Clerk
No. 04-51266
Summary Calendar
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
SYDNEY CHARLES RHODES, JR.,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Texas
USDC No. 5:04-CR-194-ALL
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Before JONES, WIENER, and DeMOSS, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Sydney Charles Rhodes, Jr., appeals the sentences imposed
following his guilty-plea conviction on two counts of
transporting aliens within the United States for profit. Citing
United States v. Booker, 125 S. Ct. 738 (2005), Rhodes argues
that the district court violated his Sixth Amendment right to a
jury trial by enhancing his sentence under the United States
Sentencing Guidelines based on facts that were neither admitted
by him nor found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. Rhodes
*
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this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except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. 04-51266
-2-
also argues that the district court erred by sentencing him
pursuant to the mandatory Sentencing Guidelines scheme held
unconstitutional in Booker.
At Rhodes’s sentencing hearing, the district court noted
that if the United States Sentencing Guidelines were held
unconstitutional it would impose the same concurrent 33-month
terms of imprisonment it had previously imposed. Therefore, the
Government has carried its burden of establishing that the
district court’s sentencing errors were harmless beyond a
reasonable doubt. United States v. Walters, 418 F.3d 461, 464
(5th Cir. 2005); United States v. Akpan, 407 F.3d 360, 376 (5th
Cir. 2005).
The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.