US v. Josue Villalta

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 8:14-cr-00195-DKC-1. Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999655192]. [14-4817]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 14-4817

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
JOSUE VILLALTA, a/k/a Walter Alberto Sanchez,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
Maryland, at Greenbelt.
Deborah K. Chasanow, Senior District
Judge. (8:14-cr-00195-DKC-1)

Submitted:

June 17, 2015

Decided:

September 8, 2015

Before SHEDD, FLOYD, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

James Wyda, Federal Public Defender, Paresh S. Patel, Appellate
Attorney,
Greenbelt,
Maryland,
for
Appellant.
Rod
J.
Rosenstein, United States Attorney, Baltimore, Maryland; Sujit
Raman, Chief of Appeals, Greenbelt, Maryland; Leslie Caldwell,
Assistant Attorney General, Sung-Hee Suh, Deputy Assistant
Attorney General, James I. Pearce, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF
JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Josue

Villalta

pled

guilty

to

illegal

reentry

after

deportation, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) (2012), and was
sentenced to 13 months’ imprisonment and 3 years of supervised
release.

The

only

issue

Villalta

raises

on

appeal

is

a

challenge to the district court’s finding that he had previously
been convicted of an “aggravated felony,” triggering an eightlevel enhancement under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual
§ 2L1.2(b)(1)(C)

(2013),

and

resulting

Guidelines range of 15 to 21 months.

in

a

Sentencing

We dismiss the appeal as

moot.
During the pendency of this appeal, Villalta was released
from imprisonment.
district
moot.

court’s

Accordingly, his arguments challenging the
imposition

of

the

13-month

prison

term

are

Cf. United States v. Hardy, 545 F.3d 280, 284-85 (4th

Cir. 2008) (noting that appellant’s release from prison during
pendency of appeal mooted challenge to revocation of supervised
release and imposition of prison sentence); see Friedman’s, Inc.
v. Dunlap, 290 F.3d 191, 197 (4th Cir. 2002) (“[W]hether we are
presented with a live case or controversy is a question we may
raise sua sponte since mootness goes to the heart of the Article
III

jurisdiction

omitted)).

of

the

courts.”

(internal

quotation

marks

Villalta does not challenge either his conviction or

the district court’s imposition of supervised release.
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Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal as moot.

We dispense

with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are
adequately

presented

in

the

materials

before

this

court

and

argument would not aid the decisional process.
DISMISSED

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