United States v. Shepherd

Case: 24-60622 Document: 78-1 Page: 1 Date Filed: 04/02/2026

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ____________ United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit No. 24-60622 FILED Summary Calendar April 2, 2026 ____________ Lyle W. Cayce Clerk United States of America, Plaintiff—Appellee, versus William Robert Shepherd, III, Defendant—Appellant. ______________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi USDC No. 3:23-CR-39-1 ______________________________ Before King, Haynes, and Ho, Circuit Judges.

Per Curiam: * William Robert Shepherd III entered a conditional guilty plea to receipt or possession of an unregistered firearm, i.e., a short-barreled shotgun, pursuant to 26 U.S.C. §§ 5841, 5861(d), and 5871. He was sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release.

_____________________ * This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.

Case: 24-60622 Document: 78-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 04/02/2026

No. 24-60622

Our precedents foreclose Shepherd’s argument that § 5861(d) violates the Second Amendment as applied to his possession of a short- barreled shotgun. See United States v. Hernandez, 159 F.4th 425, 427-28 & n.1 (5th Cir. 2025). The failure of Shepherd’s as-applied challenge to § 5861(d) is necessarily fatal to his facial challenge to that same statute. See United States v. Diaz, 116 F.4th 458, 471-72 (5th Cir. 2024), cert. denied, 145 S. Ct. 2822 (2025).

AFFIRMED.