Teodoro Chavez-Fernandez was convicted of illegally reentering the United States and sentenced to 27 months in prison. On appeal, he raised two primary arguments. First, he claimed the district court violated the rule from Rita v. United States by failing to address his nonfrivolous arguments for a downward variance from the sentencing guidelines. Second, he argued that the district court erred by imposing a sentence above the two-year statutory maximum found in 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a). The case was heard on the Summary Calendar, indicating a relatively straightforward application of existing law to the facts.
The Fifth Circuit reviewed the appellant's claim regarding the downward variance for plain error, as the argument was forfeited. The court concluded that based on the record, there was no error, plain or otherwise, citing Rita v. United States and United States v. Coto-Mendoza. Regarding the statutory maximum challenge, the court noted that Chavez-Fernandez correctly conceded the issue was foreclosed by Almendarez-Torres v. United States. The court explained that Almendarez-Torres persists as a narrow exception permitting judges to find only the fact of a prior conviction without a jury, a principle reaffirmed in Erlinger v. United States. While the court acknowledged that summary affirmance is not appropriate for the first issue due to its forfeited nature, it denied the government's motion for summary affirmance on that specific point while affirming the judgment overall.
The judgment of the district court is affirmed, meaning the 27-month sentence stands. The decision reinforces the Fifth Circuit's stance that challenges to statutory maximums in illegal reentry cases based on prior convictions are barred by Almendarez-Torres. It also clarifies that while summary affirmance is generally efficient, it is not appropriate when an appellant raises a forfeited issue that requires a review of the record to determine if plain error occurred.
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