United States v. Darwin Mejia-Guerra ( 2017 )

Case: 15-11134 Document: 00514014234 Page: 1 Date Filed: 05/31/2017
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
United States Court of Appeals
No. 15-11134
Fifth Circuit
FILED
Summary Calendar May 31, 2017
Lyle W. Cayce
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Clerk
Plaintiff-Appellee
v.
DARWIN JESUS MEJIA-GUERRA,
Defendant-Appellant
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Texas
USDC No. 3:15-CR-23-1
Before STEWART, Chief Judge, and CLEMENT and SOUTHWICK, Circuit
Judges.
PER CURIAM: *
Darwin Jesus Mejia-Guerra pleaded guilty to one count of illegal reentry
into the United States after a prior removal in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a)
and (b). The district court sentenced him to 36 months of imprisonment.
Mejia-Guerra challenges the application of the 16-level crime of violence
enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii) based on his prior Texas
* 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 R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not
be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH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.
Case: 15-11134 Document: 00514014234 Page: 2 Date Filed: 05/31/2017
No. 15-11134
conviction for burglary of a habitation. First, the district court did not err when
it applied the modified categorical approach to his prior conviction. See United
States v. Uribe, 838 F.3d 667, 671 (5th Cir. 2016), cert. denied, 2017 WL 661924
(Mar. 20, 2017) (No. 16-7969); United States v. Conde-Castaneda, 753 F.3d 172,
176 (5th Cir. 2014). Second, the Government satisfied its burden in showing
the applicability of the § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii) enhancement and, thus, the district
court did not err in relying on the indictment. See United States v. Torres-Diaz,
438 F.3d 529, 535 (5th Cir. 2006); United States v. Herrera-Solorzano, 114 F.3d
48, 50 (5th Cir. 1997).
Finally, Mejia-Guerra avers that the district court violated his due
process rights by imposing a sentence that exceeded the statutory maximum
under § 1326(a). As he concedes, this issue is foreclosed by Almendarez-Torres
v. United States, 523 U.S. 224, 226-28, 235 (1998).
AFFIRMED.
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