United States v. Carlos Fuentes-Canales

902 F.3d 468
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit·Decided August 30, 2018·No. 15-41476·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinion

PRISCILLA R. OWEN, Circuit Judge:

The petition for panel rehearing is denied. We withdraw the opinions issued May 22, 2018, and substitute the following opinion.

Carlos Alberto Fuentes-Canales pleaded guilty to re-entering the United States illegally, an offense under 18 U.S.C. § 1326 . He had previously been convicted by a Texas state court for burglary of a habitation, 1 and that offense was the predicate for the federal district court's application of a 16-level sentencing enhancement under § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii) of the federal Sentencing Guidelines in effect in 2014, 2 without objection from Fuentes-Canales. The federal district court sentenced Fuentes-Canales to 50 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release. On appeal, Fuentes-Canales contends that his Texas conviction was not for generic burglary 3 and that the district court therefore plainly erred in applying a 16-level enhancement. This court, sitting en banc, issued United States v. Herrold 4 while Fuentes-Canales's appeal was pending. That decision abrogated prior decisions of this court that had held that a conviction under Texas Penal Code § 30.03(a)(1) is generic burglary.

It is now plain in light of Herrold that the Fuentes-Canales's conviction for burglary does not qualify for purposes of § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii) 's 16-level enhancement. However, we affirm the district court's judgment because Fuentes-Canales failed *472 to satisfy the fourth prong of plain-error review. 5

I

Fuentes-Canales is a citizen of El Salvador and first illegally entered the United States in 1989, when he was 16 years old. He remained in this country for 26 years, and while here, married, became a father, and obtained a divorce. His conviction under Texas Penal Code § 30.02(a) and (d) arose from his unlawful entry into the home of his former wife. After Fuentes-Canales had served his five-year term of imprisonment for that offense, he was deported. Approximately two months later, he was found in the United States and pleaded guilty to re-entering illegally.

The Presentence Investigative Report (PSR) concluded that his prior Texas burglary conviction was for "burglary of a dwelling" within the meaning of comment 1(B)(iii) to § 2L1.2 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines, and the PSR recommended the application of a 16-level "crime of violence" increase to Fuentes-Canales's base offense level of 8, pursuant to § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii). In addition, Fuentes-Canales has a prior conviction for driving while intoxicated. After applying a three-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility, 6 the total offense level was 21. His criminal history category was III, which resulted in an advisory guidelines range of 46 to 57 months of imprisonment.

Fuentes-Canales did not object to the 16-level enhancement, and the district court accepted the PSR's recommendations. The district court imposed a sentence of 50 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release. Fuentes-Canales now contends that the district court plainly erred in applying a 16-level enhancement and seeks re-sentencing.

II

Fuentes-Canales's appeal has been pending in our court for a lengthy period of time. The initial round of briefing was completed in May 2016, but another case, United States v. Uribe , that presented similar issues, was also pending. Because Uribe potentially resolved Fuentes-Canales's case, our court administratively held Fuentes-Canales's appeal. On October 3, 2016, a decision in Uribe issued. 7 It examined whether Texas Penal Code § 30.02(a) was divisible in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Mathis v. UnitedStates , 8 and concluded that the Texas statute was "elements-based" and therefore that it was "divisible and the modified categorical approach applies to determine which of the provisions of § 30.02(a) was the basis of [a defendant's] conviction." 9 The Uribe opinion also concluded that the district court did not err in applying a 16-level enhancement under § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii) of the Guidelines. 10 The mandate in Uribe issued February 7, 2017.

*473 On April 11, 2017, a panel of this court issued an unpublished opinion in United States v. Herrold , which, dutifully applying Uribe , held that § 30.02(a) was indivisible, and that a conviction under that statute was generic "burglary." 11 Rehearing en banc was granted in Herrold , and Fuentes-Canales's appeal was once again administratively held by our court, this time pending the court's en banc decision in Herrold .

The en banc court in Herrold considered how Texas state courts have construed and applied Texas Penal Code § 30.02(a)(1) and (a)(3), and this court concluded that § 30.02(a)(1) and (a)(3) are indivisible within the meaning of Mathis because they "are not distinct offenses, but are rather separate means of committing one burglary offense." 12 The en banc court further held that § 30.02(a)(3)"is broader than generic burglary." 13 Accordingly, § 30.02(a) was overinclusive because it included a means of committing an offense that did not have the requisite elements of generic burglary. 14 The Uribe decision was expressly overruled to the extent that it is inconsistent with Herrold . 15

Fuentes-Canales's appeal was assigned to this panel, and we expedited our consideration of the issues he raises.

III

Because Fuentes-Canales failed to object to the 16-level enhancement in the district court, our review is for plain error under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 52(b). 16 "[T]he authority created by Rule 52 is circumscribed." 17

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United States v. Carlos Fuentes-Canales, 902 F.3d 468 (5th Cir. 2018).

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