United States v. Matthew Joseph Sheehan

── United States v. Matthew Joseph Sheehan ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Date: April 17, 2026 Category: General NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION File Name: 26a0175n.06 No. 25-1190 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FILED FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT Apr 17, 2026 KELLY L. STEPHENS, Clerk ) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) Plaintiff-Appellee, ) ON APPEAL FROM THE ) UNITED STATES DISTRICT v. ) COURT FOR THE WESTERN ) DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN MATTHEW JOSEPH SHEEHAN, ) ) OPINION Defendant-Appellant. ) Before: SILER, MOORE, and BLOOMEKATZ, Circuit Judges. BLOOMEKATZ, Circuit Judge. Following tips from multiple confidential informants, police stopped Matthew Joseph Sheehan as he drove home from a suspected drug run. A canine indicated that it detected drugs in the vehicle, and a subsequent search revealed illicit substances in the trunk. Sheehan moved to suppress this evidence as the product of an unconstitutional stop, but the district court denied the motion after concluding that the police had reasonable suspicion to believe Sheehan was engaged in drug trafficking. We agree with the district court and affirm. BACKGROUND Michigan State Police’s investigation into Matthew Joseph Sheehan’s drug trafficking activities largely stemmed from several confidential informants. In September 2022, two different confidential informants told police that Sheehan trafficked illicit drugs from Minnesota and distributed them in and around Iron River, Michigan. One of those informants described where Sheehan lived and indicated that he drove a white car. In November 2022, a third confidential informant, whom we refer to as CI 6402, reported that Sheehan was distributing illegal substances No. 25-1190, United States v. Sheehan in Iron River and told police they thought that Sheehan’s source was located somewhere to the south of Iron River. CI 6402 also described where Sheehan lived and indicated that he drove a white car. A few months later, CI 6402 completed a controlled buy of MDMA from Sheehan at his residence, which was the same as the one described by the earlier informants. Police surveilled the controlled buy and recorded audio from the transaction on a device carried by CI 6402. Afterwards, police confirmed that the address where the buy took place, the vehicles located at that address, and the phone number provided by one of the informants all belonged to Sheehan. Later, a fourth informant also told police that Sheehan trafficked drugs into Iron River. Around the same time, CI 6402 informed police that Sheehan was having trouble with his methamphetamine supply source, who had possibly been arrested. But CI 6402 stayed in touch with the officers and told them in February 2023 that Sheehan had found a “new source of supply” in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Sheehan’s hometown. Mot. to Suppress Hr’g Tr., R. 112, PageID 679. The next month, CI 6402 alerted police that Sheehan would soon travel to La Crosse to retrieve a “large shipment” of methamphetamine. Id. at PageID 692. The Michigan State Police were able to corroborate CI 6402’s tip that Sheehan had been sourcing drugs in La Crosse with historic cell-site data. The data showed that Sheehan made monthly trips to La Crosse and nearby Caledonia,