United States v. Felix-Andrez

Case: 21-50743 Document: 00516211775 Page: 1 Date Filed: 02/22/2022

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit FILED

February 22, 2022

No. 21-50743

Lyle W. Cayce Summary Calendar Clerk

United States of America,

Plaintiff—Appellee, versus

Juan Felix-Andrez,

Defendant—Appellant, consolidated with ______________

No. 21-50757 ______________

United States of America,

Plaintiff—Appellee, versus

Juan Felix-Andres,

Defendant—Appellant.

Case: 21-50743 Document: 00516211775 Page: 2 Date Filed: 02/22/2022

No. 21-50743 c/w No. 21-50757 Appeals from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas USDC No. 4:21-CR-135-1 USDC No. 4:21-CR-386-1

Before Wiener, Dennis, and Haynes, Circuit Judges.

Per Curiam:*

In this consolidated appeal, Juan Felix-Andrez 1 challenges the sentence imposed following his guilty plea conviction for illegal reentry into the United States after removal, see 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a), (b)(2), and a separate judgment revoking the supervised release term imposed in an earlier case, see 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e). Because he does not address, in his appellate brief, the validity of the revocation or the revocation sentence, Felix-Andrez has abandoned any challenge to the revocation judgment. See Yohey v. Collins, 985 F.2d 222, 224-25 (5th Cir. 1993).

Felix-Andrez argues for the first time on appeal that the enhancement of his illegal reentry sentence pursuant to § 1326(b)(2) was unconstitutional because the fact of his prior conviction was not charged in his indictment or proved to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. He concedes that this argument is foreclosed by Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224 (1998), but he wishes to preserve the issue for further review. The Government has filed

Case: 21-50743 Document: 00516211775 Page: 3 Date Filed: 02/22/2022

No. 21-50743 c/w No. 21-50757 an unopposed motion for summary affirmance or, in the alternative, a motion for an extension of time to file a brief.

We conclude that Felix-Andrez’s concession of foreclosure is correct, and summary affirmance is appropriate. See United States v. Pervis, 937 F.3d 546, 553-54 (5th Cir. 2019); Groendyke Transp., Inc. v. Davis, 406 F.2d 1158, 1162 (5th Cir. 1969).

The Government’s motion for summary affirmance is GRANTED, the Government’s alternative motion for an extension of time to file a brief is DENIED, and the judgments of the district court are AFFIRMED.