United States of America v. Christopher Simpson (23-3311); Marquise Figures (23-3331); Antuan L. Wynn (23-3333)

RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION
Pursuant to Sixth Circuit I.O.P. 32.1(b)
File Name: 25a0134p.06
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
CHRISTOPHER SIMPSON (23-3311); MARQUISE FIGURES
(23-3331); ANTUAN L. WYNN (23-3333),
Defendants-Appellants.
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│
│
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Nos. 23-3311/3331/3333
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio at Toledo.
No. 3:20-cr-00828—Jack Zouhary, District Judge.
Decided and Filed: May 21, 2025
Before: CLAY, THAPAR, and READLER, Circuit Judges.
_________________
COUNSEL
ON BRIEF: Steven D. Jaeger, HEMMER WESSELS MCMURTRY, Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky,
for Appellant in 23-3311. Sanford A. Schulman, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellant in 23-3331.
Benton C. Martin, FEDERAL COMMUNITY DEFENDER, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellant in
23-3333. James A. Ewing, Jason Manion, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE,
Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellee.
_________________
OPINION
_________________
CHAD A. READLER, Circuit Judge. Officers discovered a large-scale drug distribution
scheme operating in Toledo, Ohio. From those revelations, Christopher Simpson, Marquise
Figures, and Antuan Wynn were charged with a host of federal crimes related to trafficking in
>

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cocaine, cocaine base, and fentanyl. The three defendants were tried in a joint proceeding. And
except as to one charge against Wynn, the jury returned guilty verdicts as to all three.
In this consolidated appeal, defendants challenge their convictions as well as their
resulting sentences. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.
I.
A taskforce of federal and local law enforcement officers in Toledo learned that Jackie
Green was distributing narcotics in the city’s north end. Further investigation revealed a
complex web of interdependent drug trafficking activity among Green and his associates
involving powder and crack cocaine as well as fentanyl.
A leading figure in the distribution scheme was Anthony Duff, a self-proclaimed
“middleman king” in the Toledo drug trade. Duff bought fentanyl from Green for resale.
Transactions went in the other direction as well, albeit for a different narcotic, with Duff
supplying powder cocaine to Green for resale. As evidence at trial later showed, Duff and Green
were at the center of a vast drug distribution chain wherein a number of individuals supplied bulk
drug amounts to Duff or Green, with others then obtaining those drugs and reselling them to end
users.
In this vein, Duff utilized a host of associates to further his efforts. Among those in his
criminal network were Antuan Wynn, a childhood friend and one of Duff’s key sources for
cocaine. Over the course of several months, Duff regularly purchased large quantities of powder
cocaine from Wynn and regarded Wynn’s supply as superior to his other suppliers’ product. In
one instance, Duff and Wynn separately pooled their money to buy a kilogram of cocaine. They
worked closely with each other in these ventures. For example, Duff would tell Wynn what his
retail drug distributors needed, and Duff would procure the necessary amounts. Duff would
warn Wynn of potential police activity. Wynn would also front drugs to Duff. When Duff did
pay Wynn cash for the cocaine, Wynn was not concerned that Duff would short him.
Another figure in the conspiracy was Marquise Figures, who helped Duff distribute drugs
to consumers. Over a six-month period, Duff sold Figures a quarter-ounce or a half-ounce of

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cocaine every week or two. And Figures, as well as his purchasers, would, in turn, sometimes
cook the powder cocaine into crack for redistribution.
But where was Green obtaining the fentanyl he sold to Duff and others? A phone call
between Green and Duff offered a clue. During the call, Green told Duff that he had sold his
2018 blue Dodge Charger for 330 grams of fentanyl and $5,000 in cash. Officers were familiar
with the Charger, having previously obtained a warrant to attach a GPS tracker to the vehicle.
Upon learning of the sale, agents, aided by the GPS tracker, found the vehicle parked on
Pomeroy Street, with Christopher Simpson sitting in the driver’s seat. Simpson, it turns out, was
no stranger to the taskforce. He had been heard in earlier-traced phone calls purchasing powder
cocaine from Green to convert into crack cocaine for retail sale. Simpson’s relationship with
Green was thus both as a customer and supplier, as the incident with the Charger revealed.
Officers arrested Simpson and impounded the vehicle. During an inventory search of the car,
officers discovered Percocet pills and marijuana.
Presented with the taskforce’s findings, a grand jury indicted 27 individuals on various
drug crimes, including Duff and Green, the most prominent members of the alleged criminal
network. Most defendants entered guilty pleas. But Simpson, Figures, and Wynn opted to go to
trial. Each faced a charge of conspiring with 12 other defendants from December 2019 until
November 2021 to distribute controlled substances in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. They
likewise faced at least one charge each of using a telecommunications facility to facilitate a drug
felony in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 843(b). Wynn was separately charged with violating 18
U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) for possessing a firearm as a felon and 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) for distributing
cocaine on or around November 12, 2020. Wynn pleaded guilty to the § 922(g)(1) charge,
leaving the remaining charges to be resolved at the ensuing consolidated trial. At the trial’s
close, the jury returned guilty verdicts on all charges, save for the cocaine distribution charge
against Wynn. The district court sentenced Simpson and Wynn to within-Guidelines sentences
of 300 and 224 months respectively. Figures, for his part, received a below-Guidelines sentence
of 70 months. All three defendants filed timely appeals.

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II.
We begin with Christopher Simpson, who challenges his conviction on constitutional
grounds and his sentence due to purported procedural flaws.
A. Invoking the Fourth Amendment, Simpson challenges the district court’s motion-to-
suppress ruling regarding the seizure of the Dodge Charger and the subsequent search of the car.
In considering the issue, we review the district court’s legal conclusions with fresh eyes, while
considering any of its factual findings for clear error. United States v. Williams, 68 F.4th 304,
307 (6th Cir. 2023).
The Fourth Amendment familiarly protects the “right of the people to be secure in their
persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” U.S. CONST.
amend. IV. With “reasonableness” being the “touchstone” of our analysis, Brigham City v.
Stuart, 547 U.S. 398, 403 (2006) (quotation omitted), several considerations guide whether the
seizure and search of the Charger—itself an “effect” for Fourth Amendment purposes, South
Dakota v. Opperman, 428 U.S. 364, 367 (1976)—were unreasonable. In view of historical
concerns over evidence in a vehicle being whisked away before law enforcement can secure a
warrant, we allow warrantless searches of an automobile if officers have probable cause (i.e., a
“fair probability”) to believe the car contains evidence of a crime. Carroll v. United States, 267
U.S. 132, 150–54 (1925) (discussing founding era legislation empowering customs officials to
search ships for contraband); United States v. Lumpkin, 159 F.3d 983, 986 (6th Cir. 1998). This
right extends to instances where the vehicle itself, as opposed to its contents, is the contraband
sought. Florida v. White, 526 U.S. 559, 565 (1999). Accordingly, officers may lawfully seize an
automobile from a public place when they have probable cause to believe that the vehicle is
forfeitable contraband. Id. at 566. And once the vehicle is impounded, officers may conduct an
inventory search without violating the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Smith, 510 F.3d 641,
651 (6th Cir. 2007).
Taken together, these principles licensed the officers’ stop and search of the Charger
acquired by Simpson. Consider first the seizure. Officers knew from recorded conversations
that Green, a known drug dealer, had traded his blue Charger for 330 grams of fentanyl and cash.

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This evidence alone made it fairly probable that the car had been used to facilitate the
distribution of a controlled substance, rendering the vehicle forfeitable contraband under federal
and state law. See 21 U.S.C. § 853(a)(2); Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2981.02(A)(1) (West 2025).
To effectuate the seizure, officers used a warrant-backed GPS tracker to identify the Charger’s
location. See White, 526 U.S. at 565–66. After discovering and seizing the vehicle in a public
place, officers then proceeded to conduct an inventory search of the car in accordance with
Toledo Police Department tow policy. In the end, all of this was by the books. See Smith, 510
F.3d at 651.
Simpson resists this conclusion on several fronts. He first contends that officers had no
right to utilize the GPS device once they learned the car to which it was attached had a new
owner. But the warrant permissibly allowed officers to use a tracking device on the Charger
without respect to the vehicle’s ownership. Probable cause for a search warrant, after all, need
not “be tied to any particular person.” United States v. Gibson, 996 F.3d 451, 462 (7th Cir.
2021) (citing Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 238 (1983)); see also United States v. Sanchez-
Jara, 889 F.3d 418, 421 (7th Cir. 2018) (recognizing no constitutional flaw with “a warrant
authorizing a GPS device that enables police to track the location of a moving car” no matter
where it goes). Nor were officers required to obtain a new warrant once Simpson took
possession of the vehicle, which was previously (and lawfully) equipped with a tracking device.
See United States v. Jones, 565 U.S. 400, 404, 409–10 (2012) (recognizing no physical trespass
amounting to a Fourth Amendment search when a tracking device had been lawfully placed on a
vehicle before coming into the defendant’s possession); see also United States v. Knotts, 460
U.S. 276, 278 (1983); United States v. Karo, 468 U.S. 705, 712 (1984).
Perhaps, as Simpson emphasizes, officers did not have probable cause to understand that
the vehicle would contain evidence of a crime. Either way, that is not the relevant inquiry. With
officers having demonstrated probable cause that the Charger itself was contraband, officers
were justified in seizing the vehicle. See White, 526 U.S. at 565–66. Simpson’s view that the
seizure of the car was pretextual not only belies the record, but is also irrelevant in the probable
cause context, where officers’ subjective motives “play no role.” Whren v. United States, 517
U.S. 806, 813 (1996).

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B. Up next are Simpson’s challenges to his sentence. To his mind, the district court
miscalculated the advisory guidelines range, and likewise failed to adequately explain its
underlying determinations. Both arguments are flavors of procedural reasonableness. See
United States v. Coppenger, 775 F.3d 799, 803 (6th Cir. 2015). When preserved, we typically
review such arguments for an abuse of discretion, requiring a legal error, a clearly erroneous
factual finding, or an obvious error of judgment for reversal. See United States v. Hymes, 19
F.4th 928, 932–33 (6th Cir. 2021). But see United States v. Tripplet, 112 F.4th 428, 432 (6th Cir.
2024) (recognizing that specific guidelines provisions often come with their “own standards of
review”). Unpreserved arguments are subject to plain error review, Hymes, 19 F.4th at 933,
requiring a showing of (1) an error, (2) that was obvious or clear, (3) that affected substantial
rights, and (4) that affected the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of the judicial
proceedings, United States v. Johns, 65 F.4th 891, 893 (6th Cir. 2023).
1. Simpson asserts that the district court erred in applying a base-offense level of 32
under § 2D1.1(c)(4) of the Sentencing Guidelines. Turn then to § 2D1.1. It instructed the court
to set the base-offense level for Simpson’s drug crime based on the quantity of drugs involved.
U.S. Sent’g Guidelines Manual § 2D1.1(a)(5), (c)(4) (U.S. Sent’g Comm’n 2024) [hereinafter
Guidelines]. Two aspects of that analysis bear emphasis here. One, while the relevant quantity
would typically account for drugs in which Simpson was “directly involved” in trafficking, it can
also include other narcotics, such as those that were “reasonably foreseeable” to him to be
distributed as part of the conspiracy. United States v. Gardner, 32 F.4th 504, 524 (6th Cir. 2022)
(quotation omitted). Two, the government must prove the weight of the drugs Simpson
possessed by a preponderance of the evidence. United States v. Histed, 93 F.4th 948, 955 (6th
Cir. 2024). Reasonable estimates suffice. United States v. Tisdale, 980 F.3d 1089, 1096 (6th
Cir. 2020). Given the fact-based nature of this inquiry, we may reverse only if the drug-quantity
determination is clearly erroneous. Id.; see also United States v. Estrada-Gonzalez, 32 F.4th
607, 614 (6th Cir. 2022) (explaining that we uphold the chosen quantity as long as it is “plausible
on the record as a whole”).
The district court did not commit clear error in finding that Simpson was responsible for
at least 1.2 kilograms (but less than 4 kilograms) of fentanyl, resulting in a base-offense level of

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32. Guidelines, supra, § 2D1.1(c)(4). As a starting point, Simpson accepts that 650 grams of
fentanyl is “directly connected” to him. Now consider an incident involving Simpson and
Jeremiah Mims, addressed in detail at numerous points in the district court proceedings,
including sentencing. Mims, a codefendant and drug dealer, testified that Simpson, his longtime
friend, was his source for fentanyl. Mims referenced an incident where Simpson brought a
“brick”—that is, 1 kilogram—of blue fentanyl to Mims’s store on Main Street, portions of which
Mims purchased for resale. Mims then identified pictures of drugs found on his iPhone as
depicting the fentanyl brick trafficked by Simpson. Just after his transaction with Simpson,
Mims, in a recorded phone call, bragged to Duff that he had access to Simpson’s brick of
fentanyl. Simpson’s girlfriend separately testified that she saw Simpson take a kilogram of
fentanyl to Mims at the Main Street location. Adding the 1 kilogram from the Main Street
incident to the accepted quantity of 650 grams puts the amount of fentanyl attributable to
Simpson well north of the 1.2 kilogram threshold to justify the base offense level of 32. With
that in mind, whether other amounts were mistakenly credited to Simpson has no bearing on our
review of his sentence. See United States v. Gill, 348 F.3d 147, 155 (6th Cir. 2003) (holding any
error as to drug amount harmless where “the sentence either way is subject to the same guideline
range”).
Simpson offers two responses. First, he renews an argument he made in district court: it
is “speculative” both that the “brick” of drugs from the Main Street incident belonged to him,
and that the “brick” was fentanyl. But ample evidence—Mims’s testimony, the photo of the
drugs, the evidence from the wire interception, and the corroboration from Simpson’s
girlfriend—makes the district court’s findings on these fronts more than plausible. See Estrada-
Gonzalez, 32 F.4th at 614; see also United States v. Guerrero, No. 23-1570, 2024 WL 3427204,
at *6 (6th Cir. July 16, 2024) (recognizing evidence supporting a drug quantity finding must
merely have “some minimal indicium of reliability beyond mere allegation”) (quoting United
States v. Silverman, 976 F.2d 1502, 1504 (6th Cir. 1992) (en banc)). Quibbles with the
credibility of the trial testimony is beyond the realm of clear error review. See United States v.
Mosley, 53 F.4th 947, 962 (6th Cir. 2022); see also United States v. Henley, 360 F.3d 509, 516
(6th Cir. 2004) (recognizing co-conspirator’s testimony can establish drug quantity estimate).

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Shifting gears, Simpson asserts that the district court did not sufficiently explain its
findings on the drug quantity, a purported procedural error. See Histed, 93 F.4th at 963
(Murphy, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part) (distinguishing between the procedural
requirement of having the district court “show its work,” from the substantive requirement of
choosing a plausible estimate of the drug quantity). But Simpson never objected in district court
to the adequacy of the court’s explanation, meaning we review for plain error. See United States
v. Bradley, 897 F.3d 779, 785 (6th Cir. 2018). And we see no obvious error with the scope of the
district court’s explanation. See, e.g., United States v. Ward, 68 F.3d 146, 150 (6th Cir. 1995)
(deeming findings that reference drug quantities in the presentence report and trial testimony
sufficient). Equally true, given the nature of the record evidence, we doubt that a remand for a
more fulsome explanation would change the outcome here. See Bradley, 897 F.3d at 785
(holding no violation of defendant’s substantial rights where the record “amply supports” a
court’s conservative estimate).
2. Simpson lastly challenges his obstruction of justice enhancement imposed in
accordance with § 3C1.1 of the Sentencing Guidelines. Section 3C1.1 generally allows a district
court to increase the offense level if a “defendant willfully obstructed or impeded, or attempted
to obstruct or impede, the administration of justice with respect to the investigation, prosecution,
or sentencing of the instant offense of conviction.” Guidelines, supra, § 3C1.1. The district
court did so here based on an alleged threat Simpson made to Green to avoid mentioning the sale
of the Charger to authorities.
Simpson wisely concedes that threatening a codefendant suffices to apply the
enhancement. See United States v. Parsons, 798 F. App’x 922, 927 (6th Cir. 2020); see also
Guidelines, supra, § 3C1.1 cmt. n.4. He instead challenges a historical fact underlying the
enhancement—namely, whether he threatened Green. We review the district court’s assessments
of historical facts for clear error. United States v. Thomas, 933 F.3d 605, 608 (6th Cir. 2019).
On that front, the district court was presented with the probation office’s finding that, based on
Green’s proffer, Simpson had threatened Green. The court was entitled to rely on those facts
unless Simpson presented evidence casting doubt on the reliability or correctness of the
probation office’s finding. United States v. Lang, 333 F.3d 678, 681 (6th Cir. 2003); see also

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Fed. R. Crim. P. 32(i)(3)(A). Simpson never did so. Rather, he simply denied ever threatening
Green, labeling Green a liar without elaboration. Such a bare denial cannot put the issue of
whether Simpson threatened Green into dispute. United States v. Cover, 800 F.3d 275, 279 (6th
Cir. 2015) (per curiam).
That leaves Simpson’s remaining argument that the district court failed to sufficiently
explain its reasons for applying the obstruction enhancement. But here again, Simpson never
made this argument in district court. So plain error review applies. United States v. Vonner, 516
F.3d 382, 385 (6th Cir. 2008) (en banc). And given the threadbare objections to the probation
office’s findings, we do not see obvious error in the district court’s appropriately limited remarks
on the obstruction enhancement to warrant a do over. See Rita v. United States, 551 U.S. 338,
356 (2007) (recognizing that “straightforward, conceptually simple arguments” at sentencing
require only brief explanations by the district court).
III.
Next up is Marquise Figures, who, recall, was one of Duff’s distributors. He challenges
both his conviction and his sentence.
A.1. Beginning with his conviction, Figures first argues that the district court erred in
permitting the government to introduce evidence that he had drugs and cash on his person at a
traffic stop on January 1, 2021. We review that decision for an abuse of discretion. United
States v. Mack, 258 F.3d 548, 553 n.1 (6th Cir. 2001). To support his argument, Figures points
to Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b). In general, the rule prohibited the government from using
evidence of a different “crime, wrong or act” to prove Figures’s “character” for purposes of
showing that he acted “in accordance with the character” for the charged crime. Fed. R. Evid.
404(b)(1). But when the challenged evidence is “intrinsic” to the crime charged, Rule 404(b)
simply does not apply. United States v. Barnes, 49 F.3d 1144, 1149 (6th Cir. 1995). And here,
the evidence Figures challenges was not evidence of another crime; it was evidence of his
charged conspiracy. His January 2021 arrest happened in the middle of the charged conspiracy,
which did not end until November 2021. Indeed, on the day of his arrest, Figures was attempting
to text his supplier Duff to obtain more product. So the evidence gathered at his arrest—all

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suggesting that Figures was continuing to engage in drug trafficking—was intrinsic to the crime
charged. See Barnes, 49 F.3d at 1149 (recognizing that evidence gathered during an alleged
conspiracy does not implicate Rule 404(b)).
2. Turn next to Figures’s sufficiency challenge to his conspiracy conviction.
Overturning a jury verdict on appeal is no easy task. At this stage, after construing all the
evidence in favor of the government, we simply ask whether the jury “behaved irrationally in
concluding beyond a reasonable doubt that” Figures conspired to distribute controlled
substances. United States v. Miller, 982 F.3d 412, 440 (6th Cir. 2020); see also Jackson v.
Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 (1979).
We see no such irrationality. To prove Figures’s participation in a drug conspiracy, the
government must show three things: “(1) an agreement to violate drug laws, (2) knowledge and
intent to join the conspiracy, and (3) participation in the” same. United States v. Potter, 927 F.3d
446, 453 (6th Cir. 2019) (quotation omitted). Figures targets the “agreement” element,
maintaining that he was simply the end purchaser of drugs from Duff. In so doing, Figures
invokes the longstanding rule that a “buyer-seller relationship is not alone sufficient to tie a
buyer to a conspiracy.” Mosley, 53 F.4th at 960 (quotation omitted); see also United States v.
Wheat, 988 F.3d 299, 307–08 (6th Cir. 2021) (discussing the exception’s common law origins).
Yet the buyer-seller exception is “narrow.” Wheat, 988 F.3d at 308. It can be overcome
with evidence of an implicit agreement to distribute drugs to at least one other person. Id. And
here, there was ample evidence for the jury to conclude the exception was not at play. Most
notably, Figures confessed to officers that in 2020 he routinely purchased and then resold
narcotics from Duff. And his purchasers, he added, would sometimes cook the powder cocaine
into crack for redistribution. Duff corroborated as much, testifying that he sold Figures a
quarter-ounce to a half ounce of cocaine every two weeks for roughly six months. Other
testimony confirmed that quarter or half ounce amounts of cocaine were not personal use
quantities. From this, a rational jury could easily conclude that Figures committed federal drug
conspiracy. See Mosley, 53 F.4th at 960 (evidence of repeated drugs transactions extending over
a period of time allow for the “eminently reasonable” inference that the defendant contemplated
downstream drug sales).

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B.1. Figures also challenges his sentence, portraying the district court’s decision-making
as procedurally unreasonable. Like Simpson, Figures says the district court clearly erred in
assessing the drug quantity that drove the base offense level. At sentencing, the government
urged a base offense level of 24, a position the district court ultimately accepted. To get there,
the government needed to show by a preponderance of the evidence that at least 100 kilograms
of covered narcotics, which includes at least 28 grams of cocaine base, were attributable to
Figures. See Guidelines, supra, § 2D1.1(c)(8). The findings from the probation office, which
the district court adopted, did far more than that. Relying on Duff’s testimony about how
frequently he sold powder cocaine to Figures to convert to crack and how much powder cocaine
was involved in each sale, the probation office provided a reasonable estimate that Figures was
responsible for 189 grams of cocaine base. The probation office further included various drugs
found in Figures’s car during his arrest, to get to a total amount of 689.61 kilograms of covered
narcotics—nearly seven times what was needed for a base offense level of 24. Id. (To get to the
689.61 kilogram total, the probation office, faced with calculating a combination of different
narcotics, used the guidelines drug conversion tables found in the commentary to § 2D1.1. Id.
cmt. n.8(D). Using the conversion of 1 gram of cocaine base to 3,571 grams of converted drug
weight, the 189 grams of cocaine base received a converted drug weight 674.92 kilograms.
Using the same method, the remaining narcotics raised the total to 689.61 kilograms).
Seeing things otherwise, Figures says the district court should have converted the amount
of cocaine base into powder cocaine, which would have given him a lower base offense level.
Why? Because, Figures says, the district court should have complied with a now-rescinded
Department of Justice memorandum counseling prosecutors to support a variance in the
guidelines range that would eliminate any disparity between crack and powder cocaine. See
Att’y Gen. Merrick B. Garland, U.S. Dep’t of Just., Additional Department Policies Regarding
Charging, Pleas, and Sentencing in Drug Cases, (Dec. 16, 2022), https://perma.cc/9AFZ-4S3T;
Att’y Gen. Pamela J. Bondi, U.S. Dep’t of Just., General Policy Regarding Charging, Plea
Negotiations, and Sentencing, https://perma.cc/WW3X-FYKK. Here, Figures confronts a
roadblock emanating from the separation of powers: he fails to explain why the executive
branch memorandum would bind the district court, whose focus is appropriately on the written
Guidelines. Hymes, 19 F.4th at 936; see also Keller v. United States, No. 17-1469, 2017 WL

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5067391, at *2 (6th Cir. Oct. 10, 2017) (order) (recognizing that DOJ memoranda are not
binding on the judiciary). While a district court may vary downward to account for any
disagreement with the Guidelines as to the crack-powder disparity, it is not required to do so.
United States v. Brooks, 628 F.3d 791, 800 (6th Cir. 2011). In any event, we note that the
government, in keeping with the DOJ policy, did ask the district court to sentence Figures as if
he were only responsible for powder cocaine, a position the district court adopted. Thus, the
district court effectively gave Figures exactly what he is requesting. See United States v.
Carman, No. 22-2073, 2025 WL 289701, at *3 (6th Cir. Jan. 24, 2025) (holding that when a
court varies downward from an errant base offense level to capture a defendant’s recommended
guidelines range, any error is harmless).
Next, Figures argues that the narcotics found in his car should have been excluded in the
total calculation. But those drugs amounted to just over two percent of the district court’s
calculation. Taking those narcotics out of the equation still leaves Figures miles above the
amount needed to satisfy the base offense level. Guidelines, supra, § 2D1.1(c)(8); Gill, 348 F.3d
at 155.
2. Lastly, Figures turns to the district court’s refusal to apply a minor participant
reduction under § 3B1.2 of the Sentencing Guidelines, a decision we review for clear error.
Mosley, 53 F.4th at 963. All agree this provision would allow for a reduction if Figures was
“substantially less culpable than the average participant” in the conspiracy offense, id.;
Guidelines, supra, § 3B1.2 cmt. n.3(A), a point Figures carried the burden to prove by a
preponderance of the evidence, United States v. Daneshvar, 925 F.3d 766, 790 (6th Cir. 2019).
We see no clear error in the district court’s denial of the reduction. Begin with a
procedural flaw with Figures’s argument. Namely, neither in district court nor here has Figures
addressed the role of comparators or explained why he was substantially less culpable than his
average coconspirator, as was his burden. See Mosley, 53 F.4th at 963. Nor, in any event, does
the record reflect a minor role for Figures in the conspiracy. Figures regularly purchased powder
cocaine from Duff, a central player in the conspiracy, and then sold the product to end users
throughout Toledo, converting some of the product to crack cocaine along the way. Figures was
thus instrumental in ensuring that the conspiracy’s wholesalers had end purchasers. See United

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States v. Lewis, No. 23-5242, 2024 WL 1463435, at *2 (6th Cir. Apr. 4, 2024) (holding
defendant who arranged several exchanges with a known member of the distribution ring and
then tried to resell the product did not play a “minor” role in the criminal scheme). All told, the
district court committed no error in sentencing Figures.
IV.
That leaves Antuan Wynn, who, recall, sourced Duff with powder cocaine. Like his
codefendants, Wynn challenges both his conviction and his sentence.
A.1. Starting with his conspiracy conviction, Wynn contends on appeal that a legally
fatal variance existed between the proof at trial and the conspiracy allegations in the indictment,
which charged a single drug conspiracy among 15 codefendants. Wynn argues that while he
may have conspired to supply powder cocaine to Duff, who in turn sold that product to others,
Wynn had nothing to do with other aspects of the alleged conspiracy, including the scheme to
distribute fentanyl.
It bears emphasis at the start that Wynn’s argument here differs from the one he
presented below. In his Rule 29 motion in district court, Wynn argued that he was simply a
“supplier,” and that “[m]erely selling drugs to . . . Duff” could not establish his role in a
conspiracy. As with Figures’s sufficiency challenge, the district court rightly rejected Wynn’s
buyer-seller argument.
Consider the following. Wynn’s sales to Duff were frequent, standardized, and of a
sufficient quantity to infer more than a buyer-seller relationship. See Mosley, 53 F.4th at 960.
Indeed, a relationship of trust imbued Wynn and Duff’s interactions. See Wheat, 988 F.3d at
309. Duff and Wynn were childhood friends. Wynn fronted drugs to Duff and did not need to
double-check that Duff was handing over the correct amount of cash. Duff even warned Wynn
of any potential police activity that might disrupt their arrangement. That Wynn mainly
interacted with Duff and did not directly convert the cocaine powder to crack does not diminish
the broader nature or scope of the conspiracy in which the two participated. See United States v.
Character, 76 F. App’x 690, 698 (6th Cir. 2003) (citing United States v. Moss, 9 F.3d 543, 551
(6th Cir. 1993) (recognizing that an individual conspirator need not know every other member or

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be aware of all the discrete criminal activities that furthered the conspiracy). Especially so, it
bears adding, when several recorded phone calls demonstrated that Wynn knew Duff was
reselling Wynn’s powder cocaine to others. Through Duff, Wynn interacted with Green, the
other key player in the conspiracy, making it difficult for Wynn to feign ignorance as to the
nature of the operation. See United States v. Martinez, 430 F.3d 317, 334 (6th Cir. 2005).
In the end, it was far from irrational for the jury to conclude that Wynn agreed to sell
cocaine to Duff, who in turn would ensure that cocaine and crack reached others, including
Figures and—through Green, the intermediary—Simpson. See Wheat, 988 F.3d at 306–07
(recognizing a conspiratorial agreement can be implicit and based on circumstantial evidence);
see also United States v. Beals, 698 F.3d 248, 259 (6th Cir. 2012); United States v. Avery, 128
F.3d 966, 971 (6th Cir. 1997). Wynn thus played a necessary role in an interdependent criminal
enterprise that operated just like any other business operation (save for its illicit purpose): a
manufacturer of a product distributing the product to wholesalers and retailers until the product
reached the consumer. See Wayne R. LaFave, 2 Subst. Crim. L. § 12.3(b)(2) (3d ed.). Such
evidence plainly suffices to prove a chain narcotics conspiracy. See, e.g., United States v.
Davenport, 808 F.2d 1212, 1215–16 (6th Cir. 1987); United States v. Warner, 690 F.2d 545, 549
(6th Cir. 1982).
Wynn has shifted gears on appeal. All but conceding that he engaged in a conspiracy to
traffic in cocaine, Wynn argues that evidence presented to the jury showed more than just a
cocaine conspiracy and included a separate one involving fentanyl, amounting to reversible error.
Specifically, says Wynn, there was a “different conspiracy to distribute” fentanyl, one that
involved individuals he had “no knowledge of,” meaning a prejudicial variance resulted between
the indictment and proofs offered to the jury. For us to vacate his conviction, Wynn must show
both that the evidence presented to the jury “only” demonstrated the existence of more than one
conspiracy, and that the resulting variance prejudiced him. United States v. Williams, 612 F.3d
417, 423 (6th Cir. 2010). Putting preservations concerns to the side and spotting Wynn, for
argument’s sake, that the jury could only find the existence of two conspiracies, Wynn still
cannot show prejudice.

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To that end, Wynn speculates that the existence of two conspiracies confused the jurors
and caused them to transfer guilt to him. That theory, however, is in tension with the variance
principle, which was derived primarily to ensure that an otherwise innocent defendant is not
convicted of a conspiracy charge to which he could not prepare a defense. United States v.
Solorio, 337 F.3d 580, 590 (6th Cir. 2003). In other words, any risk of purported guilt
transference is necessarily nonprejudicial once the government proved Wynn’s guilt as to at the
cocaine conspiracy contemplated in the indictment, which all seem to accept is the case here.
See United States v. Robinson, 547 F.3d 632, 643 (6th Cir. 2008) (citing United States v. Lee,
991 F.2d 343, 349 (6th Cir.1993)); United States v. Mack, 837 F.2d 254, 258 (6th Cir. 1988).
But see United States v. Guerrero, 76 F.4th 519, 526 n.7 (6th Cir. 2023) (recognizing tension in
our case law developing decades after Mack and Lee),
Even if we ignored this traditional approach, there was no prejudice in practice either.
After all, there was no risk of jury confusion as to Wynn’s responsibility in the conspiracy.
Consider the evidence produced during the six-day trial. Witnesses testified as to the conduct of
a discrete set of individuals—the three on trial, as well as Green and Duff. Among the three
codefendants, the jury had ample grounds to distinguish among them. For example, Figures had
a less robust role to play than Wynn, and had next to nothing to do with fentanyl distribution.
All of this places this case on par with United States v. Carver, 470 F.3d 220 (6th Cir. 2006),
where we found no risk of juror confusion when a jury, after a one-week trial, was presented
with three defendants with “conduct of approximately equal culpability” and only two possible
conspiracies. Id. at 237; see also Guerrero, 76 F.4th at 525 (cataloguing similar cases finding no
prejudice).
True, the jury heard evidence of fentanyl trafficking involving one codefendant, Simpson.
But it is difficult to believe that the jury was so moved by that evidence that it transferred
Simpson’s guilt to Wynn. For one, there was damning evidence against Wynn as to the cocaine
conspiracy, making it unlikely the jury would have looked to other proofs to find guilt.
Guerrero, 76 F.4th at 527. For another, the jury was instructed to “separately consider the
evidence against each Defendant” and that their “decision on any one Defendant . . . should not
influence [their] decision on any of the other Defendants.” Jury Instructions, R. 681-1,

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PageID#6133. Because we presume the jury follows these instructions, Richardson v. Marsh,
481 U.S. 200, 206 (1987), we “must conclude that the jury did not improperly ‘transfer guilt’” to
Wynn, United States v. Washington, 565 F. App’x 458, 465 (6th Cir. 2014). In any event,
Wynn’s ultimate sentence, which turned on the cocaine he bought or sold to Duff, was not
affected by any purported variance. Guerrero, 76 F.4th at 527. Simply put, no prejudice
occurred.
Wynn offers little in response. He begins by comparing his case to United States v.
Swafford, 512 F.3d 833 (6th Cir. 2008). There, the indictment alleged one overarching
conspiracy between Swafford and dozens of individuals who purchased iodine from him to cook
methamphetamine. Id. at 838. We found a prejudicial variance occurred at trial because the
evidence showed many smaller conspiracies along with a number of innocent interactions
between Swafford and his customers. As a result, evidence of Swafford’s guilt from some of his
more incriminating interactions likely spilled over to imply guilt elsewhere, directly resulting in
a longer sentence. Id. at 842–43. Wynn’s trial, by comparison, was nowhere near as sprawling
or confusing. Nor was there any no doubt as to Wynn’s role in the cocaine conspiracy. Cf.
United States v. Dellosantos, 649 F.3d 109, 125 (1st Cir. 2011) (finding prejudice from a
complex conspiracy trial where “voluminous testimony”—specifically, hundreds of telephone
conversations detailing the interactions of 16 different codefendants—was devoted to a separate
conspiracy of which the defendants had no connection).
Wynn also emphasizes that he was acquitted of a cocaine distribution charge, surmising
that the jury could only have convicted him of the supposed separate fentanyl conspiracy. But
the not guilty verdict concerned a discrete event on or around November 12, 2020. Proof of that
charge largely consisted of circumstantial evidence—namely, physical surveillance showing
Wynn’s arrival at Duff’s residence soon after Green had sought more cocaine from Duff. The
jury was fairly equipped to conclude that evidence beyond a reasonable doubt existed to support
Wynn’s conspiracy charge, but not the isolated November 2020 distribution charge. See United
States v. Alvarez, 75 F. App’x 745, 747 (10th Cir. 2003) (order) (no inconsistency between
differing verdicts as to a specific substantive offense and a broader drug conspiracy charge); see
also United States v. Colon, 268 F.3d 367, 376 (6th Cir. 2001) (observing that it is possible to

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conspire to violate drug laws without actually committing the offense themselves). More telling
as to the validity of the conspiracy charge, it seems, is the fact that the same verdict form
specifically found Wynn guilty of conspiring to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine. It
would be odd for the jury to so conclude if it thought Wynn was only conspiring as to other
drugs. Speculating otherwise has little point. Cf. United States v. Powell, 469 U.S. 57, 65
(1984) (“It is equally possible that the jury, convinced of guilt, properly reached its conclusion
on the compound offense, and then through mistake, compromise, or lenity, arrived at an
inconsistent conclusion on the lesser offense.”). Doing so falls well short of a showing that any
error here “substantially affected the ‘overall fairness’ of the trial,” a necessary prerequisite to
vacating Wynn’s conviction. Guerrero, 76 F.4th at 527–28 (citation omitted).
Lastly, Wynn hints at the existence of multiple cocaine conspiracies, highlighting that he
was not Duff’s only supplier. But “the existence of multiple suppliers . . . does not result in
multiple conspiracies,” United States v. Parlier, 570 F. App’x 509, 514–15 (6th Cir. 2014), as
competing suppliers still share in the “same drug-distribution objective,” see Washington, 565 F.
App’x at 465; see also Martinez, 430 F.3d at 334). In sum, no prejudicial variance occurred.
2. Wynn next challenges the legal accuracy of one of the jury instructions, a question we
review de novo. United States v. Pritchard, 964 F.3d 513, 522 (6th Cir. 2020). By way of
background, during his testimony, Wynn downplayed how often he sold cocaine to Duff,
claiming that he instead repeatedly sold Duff benzocaine (a noncontrolled substance often sold
under the brand name Orajel) to use as a “cut” to artificially increase the amount of cocaine Duff
would have for resale. Following that testimony, the government sought an instruction to limit its
import. The requested instruction stated: “[i]t is immaterial whether a Defendant actually sold a
controlled substance himself if he otherwise facilitated the sale.” Jury Instructions Before
Closing Arguments, R. 681-1, PageID#6137. Through the instruction, the government
seemingly sought to preserve the ability to secure a guilty verdict against Wynn on the
conspiracy charge whether he sold cocaine or benzocaine (or both) to facilitate Duff’s drug
trafficking.

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We see no issue with the instruction. The “essence” of a drug conspiracy charge is an
agreement to violate federal drug laws. Wheat, 988 F.3d at 306 (quotation omitted). And federal
law, in turn, prohibits both distributing as well as aiding in the distribution of cocaine. 21 U.S.C.
§ 841(a)(1); 18 U.S.C. § 2. So the focus in drug conspiracy cases is whether there is an express
or implicit “‘meeting of the minds’ that two or more people will jointly achieve a drug-
distribution end.” Wheat, 988 F.3d at 306–07. Because our focus is on evidence of an
agreement, a defendant need not actually distribute narcotics to be guilty of drug conspiracy.
Colon, 268 F.3d at 376; United States v. Deitz, 577 F.3d 672, 681 (6th Cir. 2009); see also
United States v. Superior Growers Supply, Inc., 982 F.2d 173, 180 (6th Cir. 1992) (recognizing
that “defendants who agreed to distribute diluents with intent that they be used as cutting agents
for heroin and which were distributed by one or more heroin networks could be convicted” for
violating 21 U.S.C. § 846 (citations omitted)). This sentiment aligns with the jury instruction at
issue, which appropriately turned the jury’s attention away from whether Wynn distributed
cocaine to whether there was evidence of an illicit agreement.
Wynn reminds us that evidence of drug sales can be relevant to a conspiracy charge. Yet
he is wrong to contend that the instruction incorrectly told the jury to ignore all evidence of
whether Wynn sold drugs. Rather, the instruction merely conditions the statement that evidence
of drug sales is immaterial if there is other evidence that Wynn knowingly agreed to violate
federal drug law. In other words, the instruction simply makes the anodyne statement that
evidence of a drug conspiracy can arise from activities outside of actual drug dealing.
3. Wynn lastly argues that the district court should not have permitted the government to
put on evidence about his drug purchases 18 months before the conspiracy began. To his mind,
this evidence was used to demonstrate inadmissible prohibited prior bad acts under Rule 404(b).
The district court rejected Wynn’s argument on two alternative grounds. First, it viewed the
evidence to be intrinsic to—or, said differently, part of the “res gestae” of—the offense and
therefore not subject to Rule 404(b). Second, even if the Rule applied, the court deemed the
evidence admissible under Rule 404(b)(2)’s exception for evidence of opportunity and intent.
On appeal, Wynn challenges only the district court’s conclusion that the evidence was intrinsic
to the offense; he does not challenge the district court’s alternative holding. In this circumstance,

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our precedent requires holding that Wynn has forfeited his evidentiary challenge by not
addressing an independent basis to reject the challenge, in this instance, the district court’s Rule
404(b)(2) holding. United States v. Kettles, 970 F.3d 637, 646 (6th Cir. 2020).
Even then, says Wynn, the pre-conspiracy evidence should have been excluded on yet
another basis—this time, Rule 403—because its “probative value” was “substantially
outweighed” by risks of prejudice. But Wynn forfeited this argument too, in this instance by
failing to develop it in his opening brief on appeal. He devoted only a sentence to the issue:
“any potential probative value of the evidence was outweighed by the prejudicial inference that
Wynn had conspired to sell drugs in the past and thus may have conspired to do so again.”
Appellant Br. 45. A “perfunctory” argument, it bears repeating, is no argument at all.
Buetenmiller v. Macomb Cnty. Jail, 53 F.4th 939, 946 (6th Cir. 2022) (considering “[i]ssues . . .
adverted to in a perfunctory manner, unaccompanied by some effort at developed
argumentation,” forfeited (alteration in original) (citation omitted)).
B.1. That leaves Wynn’s challenges to his sentence. Like his codefendants, Wynn
challenges the district court’s drug quantity assessment. On that score, the district court, after
adopting the government’s position, assigned Wynn a base offense level of 30, finding at least 5
kilograms of cocaine attributable to Wynn. See Guidelines, supra, § 2D1.1(c)(5). The evidence
the court relied on clears the “low bar” of providing a “plausible” connection between Wynn and
that amount of cocaine. Estrada-Gonzalez, 32 F.4th at 614 (discussing clear error review of drug
quantities).
Consider two moments from Duff’s trial testimony. See Mosley, 53 F.4th at 962
(affirming role of coconspirator testimony in assessing drug quantity). Duff testified that from
spring to the end of 2020, he acquired from Wynn nine-ounce (or .252 kilogram) quantities of
cocaine “eight times,” and half-kilogram quantities “five or six” times. Separately, Duff
recounted an incident where he and Wynn pooled their money to acquire another kilogram of
cocaine, which they would split. Intercepted contemporaneous phone calls recorded Duff
discussing his split-a-brick sale with Wynn. While the government has other plausible bases to
add to Wynn’s attributable drug quantity, we can stop here. Even the most conservative

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estimates gleaned from this evidence alone directly attributes five kilograms of powder cocaine
to Wynn.
Wynn responds by portraying Duff as a liar and his testimony as imprecise. But the
district court observed the testimony and heard firsthand the corroborating wiretap conversations.
We are in no position to second guess that court’s credibility determinations on clear error
review. See id. Wynn also suggests that the district court double counted the split-a-brick sale.
We disagree. The evidence clearly distinguishes between when Wynn would supply Duff with
cocaine and a separate incident where they pooled their money to acquire cocaine from another
source.
Wynn makes two other points. First, he says the district court failed to sufficiently
explain its findings on drug quantity. But like his codefendants, Wynn never made this distinct
argument in district court, so we review for plain error. Bradley, 897 F.3d at 785. And together,
the district court’s explanation (e.g., incorporating the government’s sentencing memorandum),
Ward, 68 F.3d at 150, coupled with the record, Bradley, 897 F.3d at 785, easily clears plain error
review.
Second, Wynn takes issue with a tension between the district court attributing at least 5
kilograms of cocaine to him and the jury’s finding that he conspired to traffic in less than that
amount. (Wynn, we note, does not argue that the jury’s not-guilty finding on the drug
distribution charge is relevant with respect to this argument.) As a starting point, precedent
forecloses any argument that this purported tension raises constitutional concerns. See United
States v. White, 551 F.3d 381, 385 (6th Cir. 2008) (en banc) (holding that a district court does not
violate the Sixth Amendment by “looking to . . . acquitted conduct” in “selecting a sentence”
within the statutory range envisioned by the jury verdict); see also United States v. Watts, 519
U.S. 148, 157 (1997) (per curiam).
What about § 1B1.3(c) of the Sentencing Guidelines? For purposes of establishing a
defendant’s base offense level, that provision generally excludes from the definition of relevant
conduct any acts for “which the defendant was criminally charged and acquitted in federal
court.” Section 1B1.3(c), however, went into effect in November 2024, well after Wynn was

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sentenced. See U.S. Sent’g Guidelines Manual app. C, amend. 826 (U.S. Sent’g Comm’n 2024).
And none of its provisions were made retroactive. See id.; see also Guidelines, supra,
§ 1B1.10(a)(1), (d). So it is of no benefit to Wynn. See Huff v. United States, 734 F.3d 600, 608
(6th Cir. 2013) (“[A] district court applies the version of the Guidelines in effect at the time of
sentencing.”). Nor do we understand § 1B1.3(c) to merely clarify preexisting law. Rather, it
carved out a new exception to how courts should evaluate acquitted conduct and altered the legal
effect of then-existing Guidelines. See United States v. Geerken, 506 F.3d 461, 465 (6th Cir.
2007); see also U.S. Sent’g Guidelines Manual app. C, amend. 826 (U.S. Sent’g Comm’n 2024)
(deleting from commentary reference to United States v. Watts, 519 U.S. 148, 154 (1997) and the
statement that the “lower evidentiary standard at sentencing permits sentencing court’s
consideration of acquitted conduct”). Accordingly, we see no error in the drug quantity
calculation.
2. Wynn next challenges the district court’s application of a two-level enhancement for
possessing a firearm under § 2D1.1(b)(1). That provision authorizes a two-level enhancement
conditioned on two findings: first, that Wynn possessed a “dangerous weapon,” including a
firearm; and second, that he did so during a drug trafficking crime. United States v. McCloud,
935 F.3d 527, 531 (6th Cir. 2019). If the weapon was present during the relevant conduct, the
enhancement applies unless Wynn can show it was clearly improbable that the weapon was
connected to the offense. United States v. Wallace, 51 F.4th 177, 183 (6th Cir. 2022); see also
Guidelines, supra, § 2D1.1(b)(1) cmt. n.11(A). We review this fact-bound question for clear
error, and otherwise “accord due deference” to the district court’s decision to apply the
enhancement. Wallace, 51 F.4th at 183.
The district court did not clearly err in finding that Wynn had a firearm during his
relevant conduct. Wynn had control over this weapon, as evidenced by his guilty plea to
possessing (as a felon) a black Ruger .38 revolver found at Wynn’s Loxley Street home. So all
that was up for dispute at sentencing was the temporal element of the enhancement—whether
Wynn’s possession occurred during the relevant conduct. Plenty of evidence suggested as much.
In the midst of the charged conspiracy, the weapon was found next to Wynn’s home surveillance
system in a house that contained vast evidence of an active drug trafficking operation (e.g.,

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various narcotics, digital scales, multiple cell phones, and vast quantities of cash). What is more,
the home was used for drug trafficking between Wynn and Duff. Officers testified that they
regularly saw Duff entering the Loxley residence during the height of the conspiracy. A GPS
tracker on Duff’s vehicle logged him traveling to Wynn’s house nine times during that period.
Duff likewise testified that he would obtain cocaine from Wynn at his residence. Taking all of
this together, it was not a stretch (much less clear error) for the district court to conclude Wynn
possessed the revolver during his drug trafficking crimes, a determination Wynn never rebutted
as clearly improbable.
3. Finally, Wynn contends the district court erred in applying a two-level drug-premises
enhancement under § 2D1.1(b)(12) with respect to his Loxley residence. The enhancement
applies if Wynn “maintained a premises for the purposes of manufacturing or distributing a
controlled substance.” Guidelines, supra, § 2D1.1(b)(12); United States v. Johnson, 737 F.3d
444, 447 (6th Cir. 2013). According to the provision’s application note, Wynn need not have
maintained the premises for the sole purpose of distributing drugs. Guidelines, supra,
§ 2D1.1(b)(12) cmt. n.17. In other words, the enhancement applies if one of “the principal uses
of the spaces [was] distributing” drugs, even if Wynn also “reside[d] at the premises.” Tripplet,
112 F.4th at 432; see also United States v. Terry, 83 F.4th 1039, 1044 (6th Cir. 2023)
(recognizing that the evidentiary bar to support the enhancement is “relatively low,” with drug
storage and transactions on the property typically sufficing).
Wynn’s challenges on appeal are factual in nature. See Wynn Appellant Br. at 64
(asserting that the “evidence at trial did not show that Wynn regularly used his Loxley address to
distribute drugs”). According, we apply clear error review. See Tripplet, 112 F.4th at 432
(applying clear error review to factual determinations with respect to the drug-premises
enhancement). And we see no basis to conclude that the district court clearly erred in finding
that Wynn distributed drugs at his Loxley residence. As discussed with the dangerous weapon
enhancement, there exists considerable direct and circumstantial evidence that Wynn repeatedly
dealt drugs to Duff within the residence. Layer on top of that Wynn’s acknowledgement in his
briefing that he stored drugs at Loxley. Confirming as much, officers found drugs at the
residence, along with considerable drug trafficking paraphernalia. All of this easily satisfies the

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low evidentiary bar to apply the enhancement. Terry, 83 F.4th at 1044; Tripplet, 112 F.4th at
432.
* * * * *
For the aforementioned reasons, we affirm the judgments of the district court.

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