United States v. Randale Chapman

── United States v. Randale Chapman ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Date: April 22, 2026 Category: General NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ____________ Nos. 24-1309, 24-1310 & 24-1311 ____________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. RANDALE CHAPMAN, Appellant ___________ On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (D.C. Criminal Nos. 2-11-cr-00045-007, 2-21-cr-00073-001 & 2-21-cr-00133-001) District Judge: Honorable Arthur J. Schwab ____________ Submitted Under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a) on January 21, 2026 Before: RESTREPO, FREEMAN, and MASCOTT, Circuit Judges (Opinion filed: April 22, 2026) _______________ OPINION * _______________ * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. FREEMAN, Circuit Judge. Randale Chapman appeals his convictions in two criminal cases and his supervised release revocation in a third case. For the reasons that follow, we will affirm all three judgments. I In 2013, Chapman was convicted and sentenced in federal court for conspiracy to possess heroin with the intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense (the “2013 Convictions”).1 In 2019, he was released from his term of imprisonment for those convictions and began his supervised release. While Chapman was on supervised release in April 2020, police pulled over the car he was driving in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During the traffic stop (the “April 2020 Traffic Stop”), officers reported smelling a strong odor of marijuana from inside the car. Chapman told them that he had recently smoked “weed” in the car but none remained in the car. App. 42. Officers ordered Chapman and his passenger out of the car and said they were going to search the car because of the marijuana odor. When the officers began searching the car, Chapman bolted. The officers gave chase, caught Chapman, and detained him. When they searched his pockets, they found 19 fentanyl pills divided between two baggies, 15 methamphetamine pills divided between two baggies, 14 gummy bears containing methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), 1 Those convictions were in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 and 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), respectively. 2 and over $1,400 in cash. There were two $100 bills on the outside of the wad of cash, and inside the wad there were 14 separate bundles in the amounts of $30, $600, $38, $20, $20, $20, $100, $10, $90, $10, $10, $45, $200, and $9. At Chapman’s trial, a government expert testified that the smaller bundles of cash were consistent with street- level drug distribution. As the officers and Chapman walked back toward the car, Chapman said, “It’s mine, whatever you all find.” App. 46. The officers found a loaded pistol under the driver’s seat and a small amount of marijuana in the driver’s door pocket. Chapman told the officers that the pistol was his and he tucked it under the seat when he got pulled over. The officers arrested Chapman, and he was released on state bond. He later absconded from that bond and from his federal supervised release, and the U.S. Probation Office petitioned to revoke his supervised release. In February 2021, law enforcement received a t