United States v. Morales-Franco

70 F. App'x 189

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• Decided: July 11, 2003
• Docket: 02-41709
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

PER CURIAM. *

Jose Luis Morales-Franco pled guilty to a charge of being found unlawfully present in the United States after having been deported following convicted for a felony in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and (b)(1). He appeals his sentence, arguing that the district court lacked a proper basis for determining that his underlying conviction was a drug trafficking offense for purposes of U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(l)(A). However, the abstract of judgment relied upon by the district court reflected that Morales-Franco was convicted of selling marijuana. In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, the preponderance of the evidence supported the assessment of the sentencing enhancement. See United States v. Herrera-Solorzano, 114 F.3d 48, 50 (5th Cir.1997).

As Morales-Franco concedes, his second argument is foreclosed by AlmendarezTorres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224, 118 S.Ct. 1219, 140 L.Ed.2d 350 (1998). In the absence of any convincing argument, the sentence imposed by the district court is AFFIRMED.

* Pursuant to 5th Cir. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Cir. R. 47.5.4.