UNITED STATES v. VELASQUEZ RIOS (2018)

ON REMAND FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

Joel Velasquez-Rios pleaded guilty to being found in the United States after having been deported. This Court granted the Government’s unopposed motion for summary affirmance because Velasquez-Rios’s constitutional vagueness challenge to 18 U.S.C. § 16(b), incorporated into the definition of “aggravated felony” for purposes of sentence enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(1)(C) (2014), was foreclosed by United States v. Gonzalez-Longoria, 831 F.3d 670, 672 (5th Cir. 2016) (en banc), abrogated by Sessions v. Dimaya, ––– U.S. ––––, 138 S.Ct. 1204, 200 L.Ed.2d 549 (2018). United States v. Velasquez-Rios, 677 F. App'x 186 (5th Cir. 2017). The Supreme Court granted certiorari, vacated the judgment, and remanded the case to us for further consideration in the light of Dimaya’s holding that Section 16(b) is unconstitutionally vague. See Dimaya, 138 S.Ct. at 1210.

In supplemental letter briefs submitted at this Court’s request, the parties agree that Velasquez-Rios’s challenge to the sentencing enhancement for having been deported after having committed an aggravated felony is foreclosed by this Court’s decision in United States v. Godoy, 890 F.3d 531, 541–42 (5th Cir. 2018). The parties further agree that because the written judgment does not contain any indication of a prior “aggravated felony” and does not reflect that Velasquez-Rios was convicted and sentenced under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(2), which provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years for defendants previously convicted of an aggravated felony, there is no need to remand for the purpose of correction of the judgment. The judgment is therefore AFFIRMED.

FOOTNOTES

FOOTNOTE.  

PER CURIAM: ** FN** Pursuant to 5th Cir. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Cir. R. 47.5.4.