United States v. Christopher Ashley Defilippis

── United States v. Christopher Ashley Defilippis ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: April 20, 2026 Category: NEW USCA11 Case: 21-13123 Document: 94-1 Date Filed: 04/20/2026 Page: 1 of 29 FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 21-13123 ____________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus CHRISTOPHER ASHLEY DEFILIPPIS, Defendant-Appellant. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 8:20-cr-00342-SCB-TGW-1 ____________________ Before ROSENBAUM, ABUDU, and TJOFLAT, Circuit Judges. ABUDU, Circuit Judge: Christopher Defilippis appeals his convictions and sentence for distributing fentanyl that resulted in a person’s death (Count One), and possession of fentanyl with the intent to distribute (Count Two). Defilippis was sentenced to life imprisonment on USCA11 Case: 21-13123 Document: 94-1 Date Filed: 04/20/2026 Page: 2 of 29 2 Opinion of the Court 21-13123 Count One under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C), and ten years’ impris- onment on Count Two. After a thorough review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm. I. BACKGROUND A. Factual Background Defilippis’s criminal charges were related to the death of J.R., 1 who died from a fentanyl overdose after purchasing some narcotics from Defilippis. J.R.’s girlfriend, Ashley Frohnapfel, pro- vided most of the testimony central to the government’s case, given that she was in the house with J.R. and discovered his dead body. Between March and April 2020, J.R. messaged Defilippis multiple times over Facebook regarding the sale of drugs. 2 A few weeks before J.R.’s overdose, Frohnapfel saw Defilippis sell drugs to J.R. in an “old maroon four-door car.” She testified that these drugs were packaged in foil rectangles. According to Frohnapfel, on April 17, the day before J.R.’s overdose, she went to J.R.’s home around 8:00 p.m., and she drove him to a Chase Bank. Once they arrived at the bank, J.R. exited the 1 In order to protect the identity of this victim, we refer to him by his initials throughout this opinion. 2 Frohnapfel told investigators that J.R. would generally contact Defilippis through Facebook Messenger, so police obtained a search warrant for both of their Facebook records. USCA11 Case: 21-13123 Document: 94-1 Date Filed: 04/20/2026 Page: 3 of 29 21-13123 Opinion of the Court 3 car while Frohnapfel waited inside. After about five minutes, J.R. returned to the car with what looked like Xanax and heroin wrapped in small aluminum foil rectangles. They drove back to J.R.’s home, and J.R. immediately went into the bathroom and shut the door. Minutes later, Frohnapfel found J.R. passed out on the bathroom floor next to the drugs he had just obtained. After she woke him up, the two started arguing over J.R.’s drug use, and Frohnapfel left to calm herself down. She returned to J.R.’s home about twenty minutes later. When she returned, J.R. was in the living room watching YouTube videos and browsing Facebook. Frohnapfel went to be