{"attribution":{"source":"legal.exploreworldai.com","canonical":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/judgment-text?id=us:ca8-25-3409-2026-10-08","cite_as":"NovaCopilot, legal.exploreworldai.com (https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/judgment-text?id=us:ca8-25-3409-2026-10-08)","license":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/revision","version":"legal-2026-11-03","fingerprint":"ewai:us:fae3c7","proof":"sha256:17605e0886480aeac3a1c42179451833e2d37d346bd65ca7476c14b0d138d641","jurisdiction":"us","lang":"en","publisher":"NovaCopilot by ExploreWorld Legal","terms":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/om"},"brand_source":"Source: NovaCopilot","item":{"schema_version":"1.0.0","id":"us:ca8-25-3409-2026-10-08","jurisdiction":"us","lang":"en","brand_source":"Source: NovaCopilot","brand":{"product":"NovaCopilot","platform":"ExploreWorldAI","infrastructure":"ExploreWorld Legal","infrastructure_url":"legal.exploreworldai.com","legal_entity":"Valkiv Ventures AB","permanent_url":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/novacopilot","source":"Source: NovaCopilot","powered_by":"Powered by NovaCopilot","license":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/licensvillkor"},"sections":[{"title":"United States Court of Appeals","paragraphs":[]},{"title":"For the Eighth Circuit","paragraphs":["para_3"]},{"title":"No. 25-3409","paragraphs":["para_5"]},{"title":"United States of America","paragraphs":[]},{"title":"Plaintiff - Appellee","paragraphs":["para_8"]},{"title":"David Lee Negrete","paragraphs":[]},{"title":"Defendant - Appellant","paragraphs":["para_11"]},{"title":"Appeal from United States District Court","paragraphs":["para_13","para_14"]},{"title":"Submitted: June 9, 2026","paragraphs":[]},{"title":"Filed: October 8, 2026","paragraphs":["para_17","para_18","para_19","para_20"]},{"title":"David Negrete pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm under 18","paragraphs":[]},{"title":"U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(8), and the district court1 sentenced him to 77","paragraphs":["para_23"]},{"title":"1The Honorable Stephen H. Locher, United States District Judge for the","paragraphs":["para_25","para_26","para_27","para_28","para_29"]},{"title":"I. Background","paragraphs":[]},{"title":"Shortly after midnight, Des Moines, Iowa, Police Officer Matthew Sander","paragraphs":["para_32","para_33","para_34","para_35","para_36"]},{"title":"After Officer Sander returned to his patrol vehicle to run the stopped vehicle’s","paragraphs":["para_38","para_39","para_40","para_41"]},{"title":"As Officer Sander arrested the driver, Officer Mordini watched Negrete","paragraphs":["para_43","para_44"]},{"title":"Negrete to exit the vehicle. After Negrete did so, Officer Mordini saw him place his","paragraphs":["para_46"]},{"title":"Officer Mordini handcuffed and briefly frisked Negrete before Officer Hodges","paragraphs":["para_48"]},{"title":"Negrete’s jacket before mistakenly inserting his hand into Negrete’s left pants pocket","paragraphs":["para_50"]},{"title":"He then patted the outside of Negrete’s right pants pocket and felt what he believed","paragraphs":["para_52","para_53","para_54"]},{"title":"Negrete’s right pants pocket. The package was later found to contain","paragraphs":["para_56"]},{"title":"During the search of the vehicle, officers found a firearm under the seat where","paragraphs":[]},{"title":"Negrete had been sitting. Officers also found a backpack containing controlled","paragraphs":["para_59"]},{"title":"The backpack held marijuana; a mixture of marijuana and MDMA; and a mixture of","paragraphs":["para_61"]},{"title":"A grand jury indicted Negrete under 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(8) for","paragraphs":["para_63","para_64","para_65","para_66","para_67","para_68","para_69","para_70","para_71"]},{"title":"II. Analysis","paragraphs":[]},{"title":"On appeal, Negrete challenges (1) the district court’s denial of his motion to","paragraphs":["para_74","para_75"]},{"title":"A. Motion to Suppress","paragraphs":[]},{"title":"Negrete argues that the district court erred by denying his motion to suppress","paragraphs":["para_78","para_79","para_80"]},{"title":"Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968). “We review a district court’s denial of a motion to","paragraphs":["para_82","para_83","para_84","para_85"]},{"title":"When a search or seizure violates the Fourth Amendment and yields","paragraphs":["para_87","para_88","para_89","para_90"]},{"title":"First, Negrete argues his detention was unlawful, and the evidence obtained","paragraphs":["para_92","para_93","para_94"]},{"title":"699 (8th Cir. 2001).2 And a defendant may seek suppression of evidence derived","paragraphs":["para_96","para_97"]},{"title":"Negrete’s detention, however, was lawful at its inception. Negrete’s initial","paragraphs":["para_99","para_100"]},{"title":"Cir. 2019) (“If an officer acts lawfully in detaining the driver, he acts lawfully in","paragraphs":["para_102"]},{"title":"2Even if a passenger does not have a “possessory or property interest” in the","paragraphs":["para_104","para_105"]},{"title":"275 F.3d at 699. “[A]n individual’s [Fourth Amendment] interest is not diminished","paragraphs":["para_107","para_108","para_109"]},{"title":"And Negrete’s detention did not become unlawful when Officer Mordini","paragraphs":["para_111","para_112","para_113","para_114","para_115","para_116"]},{"title":"2021) (holding the seizure of a passenger reasonable when the officer was","paragraphs":["para_118","para_119"]},{"title":"Accordingly, Negrete has not shown an unlawful seizure occurred. Because","paragraphs":["para_121","para_122","para_123","para_124"]},{"title":"Negrete is correct, but neither of his arguments warrants suppression of the evidence","paragraphs":["para_126"]},{"title":"Negrete claims the frisk exceeded its constitutionally permissible scope when","paragraphs":[]},{"title":"Officer Hodges inserted his hand into Negrete’s left pants pocket. A frisk is typically","paragraphs":["para_129","para_130"]},{"title":"1121 (8th Cir. 2004). The “justification for a pat-down search or protective frisk is","paragraphs":["para_132"]},{"title":"Officer Hodges exceeded the permissible scope of a Terry frisk when he searched","paragraphs":["para_134"]},{"title":"(8th Cir. 2012). He then proceeded with a lawful pat down. In our view, it was","paragraphs":["para_136","para_137","para_138","para_139","para_140"]},{"title":"Olivera-Mendez, 484 F.3d 505, 511 (8th Cir. 2007) (“Evidence should not be","paragraphs":["para_142","para_143"]},{"title":"Negrete also argues that Officer Hodges did not immediately recognize the","paragraphs":["para_145","para_146","para_147","para_148"]},{"title":"Pratt, 355 F.3d at 1121. The district court credited Officer Hodges’s testimony that","paragraphs":["para_150","para_151","para_152","para_153","para_154","para_155"]},{"title":"Negrete does not offer any extrinsic evidence to contradict Officer Hodges’s","paragraphs":["para_157","para_158","para_159","para_160"]},{"title":"B. Sentencing Enhancement","paragraphs":[]},{"title":"Negrete also argues the district court erred by applying the four-level","paragraphs":["para_163","para_164","para_165","para_166","para_167"]},{"title":"Section 2K2.1(b)(7)(B) provides for a four-level enhancement if the defendant","paragraphs":["para_169","para_170","para_171","para_172"]},{"title":"United States v. Walker, 900 F.3d 995, 997 (8th Cir. 2018)). When the defendant","paragraphs":["para_174","para_175","para_176","para_177","para_178","para_179","para_180","para_181","para_182"]},{"title":"Here, Negrete argues the district court presumed, rather than found, the","paragraphs":["para_184","para_185"]},{"title":"Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022); and United States v. Rahimi, 602 U.S. 680 (2024). But","paragraphs":["para_187","para_188","para_189"]},{"title":"We have repeatedly held that “[t]he ‘facilitate’ standard may be met ‘when a","paragraphs":["para_191"]},{"title":"See, e.g., Sneed, 742 F.3d at 344–45 (quoting United States v. Swanson, 610 F.3d","paragraphs":[]},{"title":"1005, 1008 (8th Cir. 2010)). So where, as here, the defendant “had illicit drugs in","paragraphs":["para_194","para_195","para_196"]},{"title":"(reversing application of enhancement because there was no finding of facilitation","paragraphs":["para_198","para_199","para_200","para_201"]},{"title":"III. Conclusion","paragraphs":["para_203","para_204"]}],"paragraphs":[{"text":"United States Court of Appeals","paragraph_id":"para_1"},{"text":"For the Eighth Circuit","paragraph_id":"para_2"},{"text":"___________________________","paragraph_id":"para_3"},{"text":"No. 25-3409","paragraph_id":"para_4"},{"text":"___________________________","paragraph_id":"para_5"},{"text":"United States of America","paragraph_id":"para_6"},{"text":"Plaintiff - Appellee","paragraph_id":"para_7"},{"text":"v.","paragraph_id":"para_8"},{"text":"David Lee Negrete","paragraph_id":"para_9"},{"text":"Defendant - Appellant","paragraph_id":"para_10"},{"text":"____________","paragraph_id":"para_11"},{"text":"Appeal from United States District Court","paragraph_id":"para_12"},{"text":"for the Southern District of Iowa - Central","paragraph_id":"para_13"},{"text":"____________","paragraph_id":"para_14"},{"text":"Submitted: June 9, 2026","paragraph_id":"para_15"},{"text":"Filed: October 8, 2026","paragraph_id":"para_16"},{"text":"____________","paragraph_id":"para_17"},{"text":"Before COLLOTON, Chief Judge, ARNOLD and GRASZ, Circuit Judges.","paragraph_id":"para_18"},{"text":"____________","paragraph_id":"para_19"},{"text":"GRASZ, Circuit Judge.","paragraph_id":"para_20"},{"text":"David Negrete pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm under 18","paragraph_id":"para_21"},{"text":"U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(8), and the district court1 sentenced him to 77","paragraph_id":"para_22"},{"text":"months of imprisonment. Before pleading guilty, Negrete moved to suppress","paragraph_id":"para_23"},{"text":"1The Honorable Stephen H. Locher, United States District Judge for the","paragraph_id":"para_24"},{"text":"Southern District of Iowa.","paragraph_id":"para_25"},{"text":"-2-","paragraph_id":"para_26"},{"text":"evidence obtained during a search of his person and a vehicle in which he was a","paragraph_id":"para_27"},{"text":"passenger. Negrete appeals the denial of his motion to suppress and the sentence.","paragraph_id":"para_28"},{"text":"We affirm.","paragraph_id":"para_29"},{"text":"I. Background","paragraph_id":"para_30"},{"text":"Shortly after midnight, Des Moines, Iowa, Police Officer Matthew Sander","paragraph_id":"para_31"},{"text":"stopped a vehicle because its registered owner had an outstanding warrant. After","paragraph_id":"para_32"},{"text":"requesting backup, he approached the vehicle and saw two occupants in the vehicle’s","paragraph_id":"para_33"},{"text":"front seats. The passenger, David Negrete, rolled down the window, and Officer","paragraph_id":"para_34"},{"text":"Sander detected a strong odor of marijuana. While speaking to the vehicle’s owner,","paragraph_id":"para_35"},{"text":"Officer Sander noticed Negrete was shielding his face from view and looking down.","paragraph_id":"para_36"},{"text":"After Officer Sander returned to his patrol vehicle to run the stopped vehicle’s","paragraph_id":"para_37"},{"text":"driver’s license, Officer Michael Mordini arrived at the scene. As both officers then","paragraph_id":"para_38"},{"text":"approached the stopped vehicle, Negrete opened his door and stepped out. Officer","paragraph_id":"para_39"},{"text":"Mordini instructed Negrete to reenter the vehicle, and he complied. Shortly after,","paragraph_id":"para_40"},{"text":"Officer Josh Hodges arrived.","paragraph_id":"para_41"},{"text":"As Officer Sander arrested the driver, Officer Mordini watched Negrete","paragraph_id":"para_42"},{"text":"suspiciously move his hands about the vehicle, placing them where they could not","paragraph_id":"para_43"},{"text":"be seen and reaching for the door handle. In response, Officer Mordini asked","paragraph_id":"para_44"},{"text":"Negrete to exit the vehicle. After Negrete did so, Officer Mordini saw him place his","paragraph_id":"para_45"},{"text":"left hand in his jacket pocket.","paragraph_id":"para_46"},{"text":"Officer Mordini handcuffed and briefly frisked Negrete before Officer Hodges","paragraph_id":"para_47"},{"text":"conducted a more in-depth frisk. Officer Hodges first checked the left side of","paragraph_id":"para_48"},{"text":"Negrete’s jacket before mistakenly inserting his hand into Negrete’s left pants pocket","paragraph_id":"para_49"},{"text":"and immediately withdrawing it because that action was outside the frisk’s scope.","paragraph_id":"para_50"},{"text":"He then patted the outside of Negrete’s right pants pocket and felt what he believed","paragraph_id":"para_51"},{"text":"to be a controlled substance. Finally, he checked the right side of Negrete’s jacket","paragraph_id":"para_52"},{"text":"for weapons. After completing the frisk, Officer Hodges removed a package from","paragraph_id":"para_53"},{"text":"-3-","paragraph_id":"para_54"},{"text":"Negrete’s right pants pocket. The package was later found to contain","paragraph_id":"para_55"},{"text":"methamphetamine.","paragraph_id":"para_56"},{"text":"During the search of the vehicle, officers found a firearm under the seat where","paragraph_id":"para_57"},{"text":"Negrete had been sitting. Officers also found a backpack containing controlled","paragraph_id":"para_58"},{"text":"substances and drug paraphernalia on the front passenger-side floor of the vehicle.","paragraph_id":"para_59"},{"text":"The backpack held marijuana; a mixture of marijuana and MDMA; and a mixture of","paragraph_id":"para_60"},{"text":"fentanyl, xylazine, and methamphetamine.","paragraph_id":"para_61"},{"text":"A grand jury indicted Negrete under 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(8) for","paragraph_id":"para_62"},{"text":"possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, and Negrete moved to suppress evidence","paragraph_id":"para_63"},{"text":"seized from his person and the vehicle. The district court denied his motion. Negrete","paragraph_id":"para_64"},{"text":"entered a conditional guilty plea, which preserved his right to appeal the denial of","paragraph_id":"para_65"},{"text":"his suppression motion. At sentencing, the district court found that, because “the","paragraph_id":"para_66"},{"text":"gun was loaded and right underneath the seat where Mr. Negrete was sitting,” the","paragraph_id":"para_67"},{"text":"firearm had the potential to facilitate the possession of drugs. The court therefore","paragraph_id":"para_68"},{"text":"applied a four-level enhancement for possessing a firearm in connection with another","paragraph_id":"para_69"},{"text":"felony offense and sentenced him to 77 months of imprisonment, the bottom of the","paragraph_id":"para_70"},{"text":"applicable Guidelines range. Negrete timely appealed.","paragraph_id":"para_71"},{"text":"II. Analysis","paragraph_id":"para_72"},{"text":"On appeal, Negrete challenges (1) the district court’s denial of his motion to","paragraph_id":"para_73"},{"text":"suppress and (2) the district court’s application of the four-level sentencing","paragraph_id":"para_74"},{"text":"enhancement. We address each issue in turn.","paragraph_id":"para_75"},{"text":"A. Motion to Suppress","paragraph_id":"para_76"},{"text":"Negrete argues that the district court erred by denying his motion to suppress","paragraph_id":"para_77"},{"text":"the evidence seized from his person and the vehicle. Specifically, he argues that (1)","paragraph_id":"para_78"},{"text":"the officers unlawfully expanded Negrete’s detention after the traffic stop had shifted","paragraph_id":"para_79"},{"text":"to the owner’s warrant, and (2) the frisk exceeded the narrow limits permitted under","paragraph_id":"para_80"},{"text":"Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968). “We review a district court’s denial of a motion to","paragraph_id":"para_81"},{"text":"-4-","paragraph_id":"para_82"},{"text":"suppress de novo, but we review the district court’s underlying factual","paragraph_id":"para_83"},{"text":"determinations for clear error.” United States v. Demilia, 771 F.3d 1051, 1054 (8th","paragraph_id":"para_84"},{"text":"Cir. 2014).","paragraph_id":"para_85"},{"text":"When a search or seizure violates the Fourth Amendment and yields","paragraph_id":"para_86"},{"text":"incriminating evidence, the exclusionary rule, “when applicable, forbids the use of","paragraph_id":"para_87"},{"text":"[such] improperly obtained evidence at trial.” Herring v. United States, 555 U.S.","paragraph_id":"para_88"},{"text":"135, 139 (2009).","paragraph_id":"para_89"},{"text":"i. Detention","paragraph_id":"para_90"},{"text":"First, Negrete argues his detention was unlawful, and the evidence obtained","paragraph_id":"para_91"},{"text":"from his detention should be suppressed as fruit of the poisonous tree. “A passenger","paragraph_id":"para_92"},{"text":"has standing to challenge his detention because all occupants of a stopped vehicle","paragraph_id":"para_93"},{"text":"are subject to a Fourth Amendment seizure.” United States v. Green, 275 F.3d 694,","paragraph_id":"para_94"},{"text":"699 (8th Cir. 2001).2 And a defendant may seek suppression of evidence derived","paragraph_id":"para_95"},{"text":"from an unlawful detention even if he lacked a privacy interest in the place searched.","paragraph_id":"para_96"},{"text":"United States v. Davis, 943 F.3d 1129, 1132 (8th Cir. 2019).","paragraph_id":"para_97"},{"text":"Negrete’s detention, however, was lawful at its inception. Negrete’s initial","paragraph_id":"para_98"},{"text":"detention was lawful because Sander had probable cause to stop the vehicle based","paragraph_id":"para_99"},{"text":"on the owner’s outstanding warrant. See Waters v. Madson, 921 F.3d 725, 739 (8th","paragraph_id":"para_100"},{"text":"Cir. 2019) (“If an officer acts lawfully in detaining the driver, he acts lawfully in","paragraph_id":"para_101"},{"text":"concurrently detaining the passenger.”).","paragraph_id":"para_102"},{"text":"2Even if a passenger does not have a “possessory or property interest” in the","paragraph_id":"para_103"},{"text":"vehicle that was searched, a passenger “may still contest the lawfulness of his own","paragraph_id":"para_104"},{"text":"detention and seek to suppress evidence as the fruit of his illegal detention.” Green,","paragraph_id":"para_105"},{"text":"275 F.3d at 699. “[A]n individual’s [Fourth Amendment] interest is not diminished","paragraph_id":"para_106"},{"text":"simply because he is a passenger as opposed to the driver when the stop occurred.”","paragraph_id":"para_107"},{"text":"Id. (quoting United States v. Kimball, 25 F.3d 1, 5 (1st Cir. 1994)).","paragraph_id":"para_108"},{"text":"-5-","paragraph_id":"para_109"},{"text":"And Negrete’s detention did not become unlawful when Officer Mordini","paragraph_id":"para_110"},{"text":"ordered him to reenter and remain in the vehicle. Police may take reasonable actions","paragraph_id":"para_111"},{"text":"at the scene of an investigation to ensure safety and preserve the status quo without","paragraph_id":"para_112"},{"text":"reasonable suspicion. Brendlin v. California, 551 U.S. 249, 258 (2007). Considering","paragraph_id":"para_113"},{"text":"the vehicle’s owner was being arrested for an active warrant and the stop occurred","paragraph_id":"para_114"},{"text":"in the middle of the night, Mordini’s command was a reasonable measure to ensure","paragraph_id":"para_115"},{"text":"officer safety. See, e.g., United States v. Warren, 984 F.3d 1301, 1304–05 (8th Cir.","paragraph_id":"para_116"},{"text":"2021) (holding the seizure of a passenger reasonable when the officer was","paragraph_id":"para_117"},{"text":"investigating the driver and it was dimly lit). Negrete also offers no evidence that","paragraph_id":"para_118"},{"text":"the detention lasted longer than necessary to provide for officer safety.","paragraph_id":"para_119"},{"text":"Accordingly, Negrete has not shown an unlawful seizure occurred. Because","paragraph_id":"para_120"},{"text":"the seizure was lawful, Negrete’s fruit of the poisonous tree argument necessarily","paragraph_id":"para_121"},{"text":"fails. See Davis, 943 F.3d at 1133–34.","paragraph_id":"para_122"},{"text":"ii. Frisk","paragraph_id":"para_123"},{"text":"Second, Negrete argues the frisk exceeded the lawful limits under Terry.","paragraph_id":"para_124"},{"text":"Negrete is correct, but neither of his arguments warrants suppression of the evidence","paragraph_id":"para_125"},{"text":"found during the frisk.","paragraph_id":"para_126"},{"text":"Negrete claims the frisk exceeded its constitutionally permissible scope when","paragraph_id":"para_127"},{"text":"Officer Hodges inserted his hand into Negrete’s left pants pocket. A frisk is typically","paragraph_id":"para_128"},{"text":"“limited to a pat-down of the individual’s outer clothing” when “the police","paragraph_id":"para_129"},{"text":"reasonably suspect the individual is armed.” United States v. Pratt, 355 F.3d 1119,","paragraph_id":"para_130"},{"text":"1121 (8th Cir. 2004). The “justification for a pat-down search or protective frisk is","paragraph_id":"para_131"},{"text":"officer safety.” United States v. Gray, 213 F.3d 998, 1000 (8th Cir. 2000). Here,","paragraph_id":"para_132"},{"text":"Officer Hodges exceeded the permissible scope of a Terry frisk when he searched","paragraph_id":"para_133"},{"text":"inside Negrete’s left pants pocket. See United States v. Aquino, 674 F.3d 918, 923","paragraph_id":"para_134"},{"text":"(8th Cir. 2012). He then proceeded with a lawful pat down. In our view, it was","paragraph_id":"para_135"},{"text":"reasonable for Officer Hodges to finish his frisk in this manner, as he still needed to","paragraph_id":"para_136"},{"text":"ensure the officers’ safety by determining whether Negrete was armed. And in any","paragraph_id":"para_137"},{"text":"-6-","paragraph_id":"para_138"},{"text":"event, Officer Hodges’s intrusion into Negrete’s left pocket produced no evidence","paragraph_id":"para_139"},{"text":"and did not prompt him to investigate Negrete’s right pocket. See United States v.","paragraph_id":"para_140"},{"text":"Olivera-Mendez, 484 F.3d 505, 511 (8th Cir. 2007) (“Evidence should not be","paragraph_id":"para_141"},{"text":"excluded from trial based on a constitutional violation unless the illegality is at least","paragraph_id":"para_142"},{"text":"a but-for cause of obtaining the evidence.”).","paragraph_id":"para_143"},{"text":"Negrete also argues that Officer Hodges did not immediately recognize the","paragraph_id":"para_144"},{"text":"methamphetamine in his right pocket as contraband because Hodges patted down","paragraph_id":"para_145"},{"text":"that pocket and then completed the entire frisk before reaching inside. “[O]fficer[s]","paragraph_id":"para_146"},{"text":"may seize items from the individual’s pockets [during a frisk] if the incriminating","paragraph_id":"para_147"},{"text":"nature of the item is immediately apparent through the officer’s sense of touch.”","paragraph_id":"para_148"},{"text":"Pratt, 355 F.3d at 1121. The district court credited Officer Hodges’s testimony that","paragraph_id":"para_149"},{"text":"he immediately recognized the object in Negrete’s pocket as a controlled substance","paragraph_id":"para_150"},{"text":"without manipulating or squeezing it. A credibility determination “can almost never","paragraph_id":"para_151"},{"text":"be a clear error unless there is extrinsic evidence that contradicts the witness’s story","paragraph_id":"para_152"},{"text":"or the story is so internally inconsistent or implausible on its face that a reasonable","paragraph_id":"para_153"},{"text":"fact-finder would not credit it.” United States v. White, 41 F.4th 1036, 1038 (8th Cir.","paragraph_id":"para_154"},{"text":"2022) (quoting United States v. Holly, 983 F.3d 361, 363–64 (8th Cir. 2020)).","paragraph_id":"para_155"},{"text":"Negrete does not offer any extrinsic evidence to contradict Officer Hodges’s","paragraph_id":"para_156"},{"text":"account. Nor does Officer Hodges’s decision to finish frisking Negrete for weapons","paragraph_id":"para_157"},{"text":"before reaching into his pocket render Officer Hodges’s testimony internally","paragraph_id":"para_158"},{"text":"inconsistent or implausible. Thus, the district court did not clearly err in crediting","paragraph_id":"para_159"},{"text":"Officer Hodges’s testimony.","paragraph_id":"para_160"},{"text":"B. Sentencing Enhancement","paragraph_id":"para_161"},{"text":"Negrete also argues the district court erred by applying the four-level","paragraph_id":"para_162"},{"text":"sentencing enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(b)(7)(B). We disagree. “[W]e","paragraph_id":"para_163"},{"text":"review the district court’s factual findings for clear error and [its] interpretation of","paragraph_id":"para_164"},{"text":"the Guidelines de novo.” United States v. Deberry, 137 F.4th 729, 733","paragraph_id":"para_165"},{"text":"(8th Cir. 2025).","paragraph_id":"para_166"},{"text":"-7-","paragraph_id":"para_167"},{"text":"Section 2K2.1(b)(7)(B) provides for a four-level enhancement if the defendant","paragraph_id":"para_168"},{"text":"“used or possessed any firearm . . . in connection with another felony offense . . . .”","paragraph_id":"para_169"},{"text":"“Where the other felony offense is drug possession, this enhancement applies ‘if the","paragraph_id":"para_170"},{"text":"firearm or ammunition facilitated, or had the potential of facilitating, another felony","paragraph_id":"para_171"},{"text":"offense.’” United States v. Watkins, 91 F.4th 955, 961 (8th Cir. 2024) (quoting","paragraph_id":"para_172"},{"text":"United States v. Walker, 900 F.3d 995, 997 (8th Cir. 2018)). When the defendant","paragraph_id":"para_173"},{"text":"possesses only a user quantity of drugs and is not a trafficker, the district court should","paragraph_id":"para_174"},{"text":"affirmatively find that the firearm facilitated or had the potential to facilitate the drug","paragraph_id":"para_175"},{"text":"offense. Id. at 961–62. However, Guidelines Application Note 14(A) to § 2K2.1","paragraph_id":"para_176"},{"text":"does not require that district courts use any particular words or make a “specific","paragraph_id":"para_177"},{"text":"finding.” United States v. Sneed, 742 F.3d 341, 344 (8th Cir. 2014). Instead, “[i]f","paragraph_id":"para_178"},{"text":"‘the record makes clear the district court understood and properly applied the","paragraph_id":"para_179"},{"text":"“facilitate” standard of note 14(A)’ in finding possession of a firearm in connection","paragraph_id":"para_180"},{"text":"with a felony drug offense, there is no error of law.” United States v. Mitchell, 963","paragraph_id":"para_181"},{"text":"F.3d 729, 732 (8th Cir. 2020) (quoting Sneed, 742 F.3d at 344).","paragraph_id":"para_182"},{"text":"Here, Negrete argues the district court presumed, rather than found, the","paragraph_id":"para_183"},{"text":"required nexus. He contends that such a presumption conflicts with District of","paragraph_id":"para_184"},{"text":"Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008); New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v.","paragraph_id":"para_185"},{"text":"Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022); and United States v. Rahimi, 602 U.S. 680 (2024). But","paragraph_id":"para_186"},{"text":"the district court did not presume facilitation. Instead, it found that because “the gun","paragraph_id":"para_187"},{"text":"was loaded and right underneath the seat where Mr. Negrete was sitting,” the firearm","paragraph_id":"para_188"},{"text":"had the potential to facilitate Negrete’s drug possession offense.","paragraph_id":"para_189"},{"text":"We have repeatedly held that “[t]he ‘facilitate’ standard may be met ‘when a","paragraph_id":"para_190"},{"text":"defendant concurrently possesses drugs and a firearm while in public, like in a car.’”","paragraph_id":"para_191"},{"text":"See, e.g., Sneed, 742 F.3d at 344–45 (quoting United States v. Swanson, 610 F.3d","paragraph_id":"para_192"},{"text":"1005, 1008 (8th Cir. 2010)). So where, as here, the defendant “had illicit drugs in","paragraph_id":"para_193"},{"text":"his pocket and a weapon nearby on the passenger floorboard,” the district court’s","paragraph_id":"para_194"},{"text":"finding was supported by the record. Watkins, 91 F.4th at 962 (affirming application","paragraph_id":"para_195"},{"text":"of enhancement); cf. United States v. Dalton, 557 F.3d 586, 589 (8th Cir. 2009)","paragraph_id":"para_196"},{"text":"(reversing application of enhancement because there was no finding of facilitation","paragraph_id":"para_197"},{"text":"-8-","paragraph_id":"para_198"},{"text":"or potential of facilitation, despite a “temporal and spatial nexus” between a firearm","paragraph_id":"para_199"},{"text":"and methamphetamine). Accordingly, the district court did not err in applying the","paragraph_id":"para_200"},{"text":"sentencing enhancement.","paragraph_id":"para_201"},{"text":"III. 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