United States v. Bedolla-Almanza

* 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this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except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.
United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D
April 20, 2005
Charles R. Fulbruge III
Clerk
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 04-41159
Conference Calendar
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
LUIS MANUEL BEDOLLA-ALMANZA,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas
USDC No. 7:04-CR-387-ALL
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Before SMITH, CLEMENT, and PRADO, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Luis Manuel Bedolla-Almanza appeals from the sentence
imposed following his guilty plea to attempted illegal reentry.
He argues pursuant to Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466
(2000), that Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224,
235 (1998), should be overruled. He concedes that his
constitutional argument is foreclosed by Almendarez-Torres, and
he raises it solely to preserve its further review by the Supreme
Court.

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No. 04-41159
-2-
Apprendi did not overrule Almendarez-Torres. See Apprendi,
530 U.S. at 489-90; United States v. Dabeit, 231 F.3d 979, 984
(5th Cir. 2000). The Supreme Court’s recent decisions in Shepard
v. United States, 125 S. Ct. 1254, 1262-63 & n.5 (2005), United
States v. Booker, 125 S. Ct. 738, 756 (2005), and Blakely v.
Washington, 124 S. Ct. 2531, 2537 (2004), also did not overrule
Almendarez-Torres. We therefore must follow Almendarez-Torres
“unless and until the Supreme Court itself determines to overrule
it.” Dabeit, 231 F.3d at 984 (internal quotation marks and
citation omitted).
AFFIRMED.

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