United States v. Salgado-Rodriguez
United States v. Salgado-Rodriguez
Opinion of the Court
Juan Carlos Salgado-Rodríguez (“Salgado”) appeals the sentence he received fol
Salgado also urges that his prior alien smuggling conviction should not have been used to enhance his sentence because it was an element of the offense which had to be charged in his indictment. He acknowledges that his argument is barred by Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224, 118 S.Ct. 1219, 140 L.Ed.2d 350 (1998) but urges that Almendarez-Torres was effectively overruled a majority of the Supreme Court in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000).
Salgado’s prior conviction was not an element of the offense but is a sentencing factor which need not be alleged in the indictment. See Almendarez-Torres, 523 U.S. at 235; see also § 2L1.2(b)(l)(C). Apprendi did not overrule Almendarez-Torres. Apprendi, 530 U.S. at 489-90, 496; United States v. Dabeit, 231 F.3d 979, 984 (5th Cir. 2000). This court 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).
The district court’s judgment is AFFIRMED.
Pursuant to 5th Cir. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be
Salgado in turn concedes that this argument is foreclosed but seeks to preserve the issue for Supreme Court review.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.