Opinion
No. 08-20358 Summary Calendar.
March 27, 2009.
James Lee Turner, Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas, Houston, TX, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
David B. Adler, Bellaire, TX, for Defenedant-Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, USDC No. 4:07-CR-283-ALL.
Before WIENER, STEWART, AND CLEMENT, Circuit Judges.
Defendant-Appellant Julio Cesar Rodriguez-Duberney pleaded guilty to illegal reentry after deportation. On appeal, Rodriguez-Duberney challenges the district court's characterization of his prior conviction under the Travel Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1952, as a drug trafficking offense for sentencing purposes. In United States v. Rodriguez-Duberney, 326 F.3d 613, 616-18 (5th Cir. 2003), we held that Rodriguez-Duberney's prior conviction warranted a 16-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2. Rodriguez-Duberney asserts that this prior decision is flawed because we relied upon the charge alleged in a dis. missed indictment rather than the information to which he pleaded guilty. He also maintains that the ruling in Rodriguez-Duberney has been called into question by subsequent case law holding that transportation of narcotics does not generally constitute a drug trafficking offense. A panel of this court may not overrule a prior panel's decision in the absence of intervening contrary or superseding authority. United States v. Rodriguez-Jaimes, 481 F.3d 283, 288 (5th Cir. 2007).
The government's motion for summary affirmance is GRANTED, and its alternative motion for an extension of time to file a brief is DENIED. The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.