Criminal Law-Drug and Firearm Offenses-Sufficiency of Evidence-Sentencing Challenges

Staff Report//April 8, 2026//

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Defendant appealed his conviction and sentence for drug and firearm offenses after police found heroin and guns in a secret compartment of defendant’s trailer. Defendant argued that the government failed to prove that he was part of a conspiracy and that the district court committed errors during sentencing.

Where jailhouse calls between defendant and another party were sufficient to find that they were co-conspirators in a drug distribution scheme, the court upheld defendant’s conviction, and the district court adequately explained the reasons for the length of the sentence imposed except for the community service requirement, which was too contingent to permit appellate review.

Judgment is affirmed in part, appeal is dismissed in part.

U.S. v. Mejia (MLW No. 84586/Case No. 24-3380 – 9 pages) (U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, Stras, J.) Appealed from U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri, Kays, J. (Chelsea Wilson, AFPD, Kansas City, MO for appellant) (Jessica L. Jennings, Special AUSA, Kansas City, MO for appellee)