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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
CONDARIUS DESHUN TRIPPLET,
Defendant-Appellant. |
No. 23-1676 |
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Michigan at Grand Rapids.
No. 1:22-cr-00161-1—Robert J. Jonker, District Judge.
Decided and Filed: August 12, 2024
Before: MOORE, MURPHY, and BLOOMEKATZ, Circuit Judges.
_________________________
OPINION
_________________________
BLOOMEKATZ, Circuit Judge. In 2022, Condarius Tripplet pleaded guilty to
possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. The district court sentenced Tripplet
to 188 months’ imprisonment. He now appeals, contesting the court’s application of a drug-premises enhancement. This enhancement adds two levels to the base offense level when a
defendant maintains “a premises (i.e., a building, room, or enclosure) for the purpose of
manufacturing or distributing” drugs. U.S. Sent’g Comm’n Guidelines Manual (U.S.S.G.)
§ 2D1.1(b)(12). Tripplet acknowledges he maintained an apartment but disputes that its primary
use was for drug distribution, noting that he lived there with his then-girlfriend and her two
children. However, our precedent clarifies that the defendant need not maintain the premises
only for drug operations; if drug manufacture or distribution is one of the primary or principal
uses of the residence, the enhancement may apply. Given the undisputed findings that Tripplet
had a significant quantity of various illegal drugs, thousands of dollars in cash, a firearm, and
drug manufacturing tools in the residence, and that he regularly distributed drugs to customers
from this residence, we affirm the district court’s decision to apply the enhancement. |
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
GREGORY D. RALSTON,
Defendant-Appellant. |
No. 23-3651 |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio at Cleveland.
No. 1:20-cr-00330-1—John R. Adams, District Judge.
Decided and Filed: August 12, 2024
Before: GILMAN, LARSEN, and STRANCH, Circuit Judges.
_________________________
OPINION
_________________________
RONALD LEE GILMAN, Circuit Judge. After a four-day jury trial, Gregory D. Ralston
was found guilty of distributing and possessing with the intent to distribute a fentanyl-containing
substance. He was, however, acquitted of causing the serious bodily injury of another by
distributing the fentanyl.
Ralston challenges the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence without
holding an evidentiary hearing, the court’s limitation of his cross-examination of two
government witnesses under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment, and the
procedural and substantive reasonableness of his 180-month sentence. For the reasons set forth
below, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court. But because of an intervening
amendment in the Sentencing Guidelines during the pendency of this appeal, we REMAND the
case to the district court for consideration of whether Ralston is entitled to a sentence reduction
under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c). |
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JOSEPH A. FORTIN,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY,
Defendant-Appellee. |
No. 23-1528 |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan at Detroit.
No. 2:22-cv-12593—Curtis Ivy, Jr., Magistrate Judge
Argued: May 2, 2024
Decided and Filed: August 12, 2024
Before: SILER, CLAY, and GRIFFIN, Circuit Judges.
_________________________
OPINION
_________________________
In Lucia v. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Supreme Court held that
administrative law judges are inferior officers of the United States who must be appointed as
prescribed by the Appointments Clause. 585 U.S. 237, 251 (2018). Then-Acting Commissioner
of the Social Security Administration Nancy Berryhill responded to Lucia by ratifying and
approving as her own the prior appointments of the Administration’s ALJs. One of the ALJs
covered by that order denied plaintiff Joseph Fortin’s claim for benefits. Fortin asserts
Berryhill’s actions were invalid and therefore the ALJ lacked the authority to deny his claim, but
he does not otherwise take issue with the merits of the ALJ’s decision. The district court rejected
Fortin’s arguments and granted summary judgment in favor of the Commissioner of Social
Security. We affirm. |
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