Background
Juan Pablo Ayala-Malagon appealed his conviction and sentence under Section eight thousand three hundred twenty-six of Title eight of the United States Code for illegal reentry. He also appealed the revocation of his previously imposed term of supervised release. Regarding the new conviction, Ayala-Malagon argued that the statutory sentencing enhancement in Section eight thousand three hundred twenty-six, subsection b, was unconstitutional. He conceded that this argument was foreclosed by the Supreme Court decision in Almendarez-Torres v. United States and sought only to preserve the issue for possible Supreme Court review.
The court’s reasoning
The court noted that Ayala-Malagon conceded his argument was foreclosed by Almendarez-Torres v. United States. The court cited United States v. Pervis and Erlinger v. United States to explain that Almendarez-Torres persists as a narrow exception permitting judges to find only the fact of a prior conviction. Because the defendant’s argument was foreclosed, summary affirmance was appropriate.
What it means going forward
The decision reinforces the binding nature of Almendarez-Torres regarding sentencing enhancements for illegal reentry and confirms that challenges to such enhancements based on prior convictions are foreclosed in the Fifth Circuit.
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