United States v. Reginald DeWayne Brown

── United States v. Reginald DeWayne Brown ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Date: April 17, 2026 Category: General NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION File Name: 26a0178n.06 No. 24-6072 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED Apr 17, 2026 KELLY L. STEPHENS, Clerk ) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,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 KENTUCKY REGINALD DEWAYNE BROWN, ) Defendant-Appellant. ) OPINION ) Before: SILER, MOORE, and BLOOMEKATZ, Circuit Judges. KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge. Reginald Brown was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. The district court sentenced Brown to 198 months’ imprisonment followed by a six-year term of supervised release. On appeal, Brown argues that the district court erred in rejecting two Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreements, denying Brown a Franks hearing, and admitting into evidence a receipt from AutoZone. Because none of his arguments has merit, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court. I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND On September 21, 2022, Detective Cody Pfeiffer with the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) obtained a search warrant to ping Reginald Brown’s cell phone. R. 109-1 (Cell Phone Warrant at 1–3) (Page ID #493–95). According to the affidavit accompanying the warrant application, in July 2022 LMPD detectives were conducting surveillance at a local convenience store when they observed a known convicted felon standing by the door of a car “with No. 24-6072, United States v. Brown a handgun with an extended magazine in his front waistband.” Id. at 7 (Page ID #499). He was with another individual later identified as Brown. Id. at 7–9 (Page ID #499–501). Brown then drove away in that car. Id. at 7–8 (Page ID #499–500). Detectives followed the vehicle and initiated a traffic stop “with lights and sirens for excessive window tinting,” but the “vehicle failed to yield and accelerated at a high rate of speed in a residential neighborhood fleeing detectives.” Id. at 8 (Page ID #500). Detective Pfeiffer thereafter determined that Brown was currently on probation. Id. at 9 (Page ID #501). He filed a criminal complaint warrant for Brown with charges for fleeing, wanton endangerment, excessive window tinting, and disregarding a stop sign. Id. at 7 (Page ID #499). The cell-phone search-warrant affidavit “certif[ied] that the Louisville Metro Police Department is conducting a criminal investigation as well as a fugitive investigation of a violent felony offender in connection with possible violations of weapon possession.” Id. at 11 (Page ID #503). Two days later, Detective Pfeiffer used the information obtained through the search warrant to follow Brown. R. 217 (Trial Tr. Vol. 4 at 87–89) (Page ID #2352–54). Detective Pfeiffer observed Brown conducting a “heat check,” driving in a loop to determine whether he was being followed. Id. at 94–95 (Page ID #2359–60). Detective Pfeiffer also realized that Brown was being followed by another vehicle, the driver of which Detective Pfeiffer later determined was Axel Diaz-Hernandez. Id. at