United States v. Francisco Morales-Mota

Francisco Morales-Mota pleaded guilty, without the benefit of a plea agreement, of being unlawfully present in the United States after having been deported. His offense level was enhanced by sixteen under U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(l)(A)(ii) based on a conviction of burglary of a habitation with intent to commit theft, which was determined to be a crime of violence (“COV”). Morales-Mota ultimately received a forty-six-month sentence, which was at the bottom of the advisory guideline range.

Morales-Mota challenges the enhancement, contending that Texas’s burglary-of-a-habitation offense falls outside…