Topic
Every decision we've filed under Drug Trafficking.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed Oscar Navarro-Zepeda's conviction and 204-month sentence for drug trafficking and firearm possession. The court held that the defendant's waiver of Federal Rule of Evidence 410 allowed the government to use plea stipulations against him after he contradicted them during the change-of-plea hearing.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed a district court's decision to revoke supervised release and impose the maximum 36-month reimprisonment term. The court held that judges have wide discretion in revocation proceedings and may weigh the seriousness of violations heavily without being bound by advisory Sentencing Guidelines ranges.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed $125,000 fines imposed on two physicians, ruling that their appellate waivers barred challenges to the reasonableness of the sentences. The court further held that even if the Eighth Amendment challenge were considered, the fines were not grossly disproportional given the defendants' admitted conduct involving thousands of fraudulent claims.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed the denial of Alvis Damon Williams's third motion for compassionate release and his request for a sentence reduction under Amendment 821. The court found no abuse of discretion in the district court's determination that Williams failed to demonstrate extraordinary and compelling reasons for release and that statutory mandatory minimums precluded a sentence reduction.
The Tenth Circuit reversed a conviction, ruling that the Fourth Amendment does not permit a protective sweep of a vehicle based solely on a passenger's romantic relationship with an arrested driver. The court held that the government's reliance on this association constituted an impermissible criminality-by-association test rather than a valid totality-of-circumstances analysis for reasonable suspicion.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed Gabriel Hawthorne's conviction and sentence for conspiring to distribute fentanyl, finding the evidence sufficient to support the verdict. The court also rejected Hawthorne's motion for a new trial and found no error in the district court's sentencing explanation.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed a 60-month prison sentence for a defendant convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, rejecting claims that the district court erred in denying a mitigating role reduction. The court further held that the within-guidelines sentence was substantively reasonable and that general arguments regarding deterrence or historical disparities were insufficient to warrant reversal.
The Third Circuit affirmed the District Court's denial of Rasheed Hargrove's motion for a sentence reduction under the First Step Act. The appellate court found no abuse of discretion, noting the lower court properly considered Hargrove's arguments regarding historical sentencing inequities.
The D.C. Circuit affirmed Linwood Thorne's convictions for drug trafficking and firearms offenses, ruling that law enforcement's good-faith reliance on a cell-site-simulator warrant precluded suppression of evidence. The court declined to decide whether the magistrate judge lacked jurisdiction under Rule 41(b), holding instead that the officers' reasonable reliance on the warrant shielded the evidence from the exclusionary rule.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the revocation of Elliot Walker's supervised release and his 36-month sentence, holding that circumstantial evidence was sufficient to prove he possessed fentanyl with intent to distribute. The court further ruled that any potential error in admitting hearsay testimony was harmless and that the district court did not plainly err by failing to exclude retributive factors from its sentencing reasoning.