               IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                       FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT



                            No. 00-41153
                        Conference Calendar



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                                         Plaintiff-Appellee,

versus

MANUEL CRUZ-ISLAS,


                                         Defendant-Appellant.

                       --------------------
           Appeal from the United States District Court
                for the Southern District of Texas
                      USDC No. B-99-CR-263-1
                       --------------------
                          August 21, 2001

Before KING, Chief Judge, and POLITZ and PARKER, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:*

     Manuel Cruz-Islas appeals the 77-month sentence imposed

following his plea of guilty to a charge of illegal entry into

the United States after deportation in a violation of 8 U.S.C.

§ 1326.   He contends that the felony conviction that resulted in

his increased sentence under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(2) was an element

of the offense that should have been charged in the indictment.

     Cruz-Islas acknowledges that his argument is foreclosed by

the Supreme Court’s decision in Almendarez-Torres v. United


     *
        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that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent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.
                           No. 00-41153
                                -2-

States, 523 U.S. 224 (1998), but he seeks to preserve the issue

for Supreme Court review in light of the decision in Apprendi v.

New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 490 (2000).

     Apprendi did not overrule Almendarez-Torres.   See Apprendi,

530 U.S. at 490; United States v. Dabeit, 231 F.3d 979, 984 (5th

Cir. 2000), cert. denied, 121 S. Ct. 1214 (2001).   Cruz-Islas’s

argument is foreclosed.   The judgment of the district court is

AFFIRMED.
