United States v. Eric Williams ( 2022 )


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  • United States Court of Appeals
    For the Eighth Circuit
    ___________________________
    No. 20-3635
    ___________________________
    United States of America
    Plaintiff - Appellee
    v.
    Eric Deshon Williams
    Defendant - Appellant
    ___________________________
    No. 21-1069
    ___________________________
    United States of America
    Plaintiff - Appellant
    v.
    Eric Deshon Williams
    Defendant - Appellee
    ____________
    Appeal from United States District Court
    for the Eastern District of Arkansas - Central
    ____________
    Submitted: December 17, 2021
    Filed: July 13, 2022
    ____________
    Before LOKEN, SHEPHERD, and STRAS, Circuit Judges.
    ____________
    SHEPHERD, Circuit Judge.
    After two separate arrests stemming from two traffic stops that each yielded
    significant amounts of various drugs, Eric Deshon Williams was charged with 9
    conspiracy- and drug-related counts in a 19-count second superseding indictment.
    The district court1 denied Williams’s motion to suppress the evidence recovered
    during these stops, and a jury convicted Williams on all counts. At sentencing, the
    district court varied downward from the United States Sentencing Guidelines range
    of 360 months to life imprisonment and sentenced Williams to 180 months
    imprisonment and 5 years supervised release. Williams appeals his conviction,
    arguing that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress, the evidence
    was not sufficient to support his conviction on three of the nine counts, and the
    district court gave an erroneous jury instruction. The government cross-appeals
    Williams’s sentence, arguing that the district court procedurally erred when it relied
    on clearly erroneous facts. Having jurisdiction under 
    28 U.S.C. § 1291
    , we affirm
    in all respects.
    I.
    The first traffic stop giving rise to the offenses of conviction occurred on
    March 12, 2015. Investigator Austin McKinness with the Pulaski County Sheriff’s
    Office (PCSO), while conducting surveillance in an unmarked unit, observed a
    dark-colored Honda Accord cross the line marking its lane several times.
    Investigator McKinness radioed the traffic violation to other units, and Detective
    Jonathan Parks, who was driving a marked unit, caught up to the vehicle, which was
    being driven by Williams, and initiated a traffic stop. At the time Detective Parks
    1
    The Honorable Kristine G. Baker, United States District Judge for the Eastern
    District of Arkansas.
    -2-
    stopped Williams, Detective Parks was alone, it “was kind of dark outside,” and it
    was raining. When Detective Parks asked Williams for his driver’s license, proof of
    insurance, and registration, he observed that Williams was “shaking, kind of
    trembling” and would not look up at him. Noticing that Williams appeared nervous,
    Detective Parks asked Williams to step out of his vehicle and come to the back of
    the vehicle. Williams complied, and Detective Parks noticed that Williams kept
    reaching for the front pocket of his hoodie and continued to do so, despite Detective
    Park’s verbal commands to keep his hands on the car. For safety purposes, Detective
    Parks conducted a pat-down search for weapons, during which Williams continued
    to reach for his pocket. When Detective Parks felt the pocket, he felt something
    hard. Detective Parks testified that the object did not feel like a gun, but “anything
    can be used as a weapon,” so he reached into the pocket and removed what he
    discovered to be four bags containing golf-ball-sized amounts of suspected
    methamphetamine. At this point, Detective Parks arrested Williams and placed him
    in the back of his unit. Because there were no other passengers in Williams’s
    vehicle, Detective Parks called a wrecker to tow the vehicle. Detective Parks
    testified that, pursuant to PCSO policy, he conducted an inventory search of
    Williams’s vehicle before it was towed; however, in his report that he prepared
    immediately after his encounter with Williams, Detective Parks characterized this
    search as a probable cause search. While searching Williams’s vehicle, Detective
    Parks saw an unmarked pill bottle in plain sight that had three different types of pills
    inside. Detective Parks also found suspected crack cocaine, suspected marijuana,
    and three more baggies of suspected methamphetamine in Williams’s vehicle.
    The second stop occurred on November 1, 2015, at which time Williams’s
    co-defendant, Damian Mitchell, was the subject of an investigation involving
    multiple law enforcement agencies, including the PCSO and Drug Enforcement
    Administration (DEA). That day, in conjunction with that investigation, law
    enforcement was conducting electronic surveillance of Mitchell’s cell phone and
    physical surveillance of Mitchell’s residence. Law enforcement intercepted two
    calls between Mitchell and Williams regarding narcotics activity that was to take
    place later that evening, and Williams was later observed arriving at and departing
    -3-
    from Mitchell’s residence in a silver Chevrolet Malibu driven by a female driver.
    Surveillance units began following Williams’s vehicle, and DEA Investigator
    Cardarious Walker contacted PCSO Deputy Andrew Garrison, who was driving a
    marked PCSO unit and assisting the DEA. Investigator Walker told Deputy
    Garrison that Williams’s vehicle was suspected of picking up “an amount of
    narcotics” and instructed Deputy Garrison to locate and stop Williams’s vehicle if
    he could establish probable cause. Deputy Garrison was able to locate Williams’s
    vehicle and subsequently witnessed the vehicle drive left of the center line and right
    of the right-hand fog line multiple times. Deputy Garrison initiated a traffic stop,
    and the vehicle pulled over in front of a residence on Wooten Road. Deputy Garrison
    asked the driver of the vehicle for her license and registration and asked Williams if
    he had any form of identification. Williams did not have an ID but did provide his
    name and date of birth. Deputy Garrison took Williams’s information back to his
    patrol unit, where he confirmed that Williams had an active felony warrant. At this
    point, Williams opened the passenger door of his vehicle, and when Deputy Garrison
    told him to get back into the vehicle, Williams fled and ran into the nearby residence.
    After opening the front door of the residence and observing Williams coming out of
    the back bedroom, Deputy Garrison ordered Williams to come to the front door and
    get on the ground. Williams complied and was taken into custody.
    After Williams had been taken into custody, officers ordered those who
    remained inside the residence to come outside, including a woman who told Deputy
    Garrison and Investigator Walker that she rented the Wooten Road residence with
    her boyfriend and gave consent for officers to search the residence. The woman
    accompanied officers to the back bedroom and told officers that Williams came
    through the front door, ran into the back bedroom with a black sack in his hands, and
    returned to the front of the house without the sack. Investigator Walker searched the
    bedroom and located a black plastic sack containing suspected methamphetamine
    and cocaine inside of a pillowcase. At trial, the woman testified that she
    “[p]robably” had methamphetamine in her house “earlier that day,” but she had
    “flushed it down the toilet” and there was nothing in her house except for “some
    weed and rolling papers” when she saw law enforcement outside her house. Another
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    occupant of the house testified that Williams ran to the back of the house “as if he
    were carrying a football.”
    In a 19-count second superseding indictment charging multiple defendants,
    Williams was indicted on 9 conspiracy- and drug-related charges. As relevant to
    this appeal, these charges included conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute
    controlled substances, in violation of 
    21 U.S.C. §§ 841
    (a)(1), (b)(1)(A), (b)(1)(C)
    and 846 (Count 1); possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, in
    violation of 
    21 U.S.C. § 841
    (a)(1), (b)(1)(A) (Count 14); and possession with intent
    to distribute cocaine base, in violation of 
    21 U.S.C. § 841
    (a)(1), (b)(1)(C) (Count
    15). Williams filed a motion to suppress the evidence seized as a result of the March
    12 and November 1 traffic stops, arguing that each violated his Fourth Amendment
    right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. The district court denied
    Williams’s motion. As to the March 12 stop, the district court concluded that the
    traffic stop was supported by probable cause and that Detective Parks’s pat-down
    search of Williams’s person and inventory search of Williams’s vehicle did not
    violate the Fourth Amendment. The district court further concluded that the
    November 1 traffic stop was supported by probable cause, regardless of whether
    Deputy Garrison witnessed the alleged traffic violations, because he was instructed
    to stop Williams’s vehicle by Investigator Walker, who gave the instruction after
    listening to the phone conversations between Mitchell and Williams and learning
    from surveillance that Williams had arrived at and departed from Mitchell’s
    residence shortly after the second conversation.
    After a three-day trial, the jury returned a guilty verdict on all nine counts. At
    sentencing, the district court calculated a total offense level of 37 and a criminal
    history category of VI, resulting in a Guidelines range of 360 months to life
    imprisonment. Williams asked for a downward variance to 15 to 20 years
    imprisonment in light of abuse he experienced as a child. The government, however,
    requested a sentence within the Guidelines range, arguing that Williams’s criminal
    history was “overwhelming” and “far above and beyond” that of his co-defendants.
    The district court noted that, though Williams had a lengthy criminal history and
    -5-
    more criminal history points than his co-defendants, there were co-defendants in his
    case that had been sentenced with a criminal history category of VI. In particular,
    the district court focused on Jeremy Larry, a co-defendant who had a criminal history
    category of VI and an offense level “high in the 30s” and was sentenced to 120
    months imprisonment. After considering the factors set forth under 
    18 U.S.C. § 3553
    (a), the district court sentenced Williams to concurrent sentences of 180
    months imprisonment and 5 years supervised release on each count. Williams
    appeals his convictions, and the government cross-appeals his sentence.
    II.
    Williams argues that the district court erred by denying his motion to suppress;
    that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support the jury’s finding of
    guilt as to Counts 14 and 15 of the second superseding indictment, which charged
    Williams with possession of the methamphetamine and cocaine found in a
    pillowcase inside the Wooten Road residence on November 1, 2015; and that the
    district court erred in not giving a jury instruction on the heightened standard in
    constructive possession cases. We address each of these arguments in turn.
    A.
    Williams argues that the March 12 stop and accompanying pat-down and
    inventory searches, as well as the November 1 stop, were unconstitutional and that
    the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress the evidence recovered
    pursuant to these illegal stops and searches. “A mixed standard of review applies to
    the denial of a motion to suppress evidence. ‘We review the district court’s findings
    of fact under the clearly erroneous standard, and the ultimate conclusion of whether
    the Fourth Amendment was violated is subject to de novo review.’” United States
    v. Williams, 
    777 F.3d 1013
    , 1015 (8th Cir. 2015) (emphasis omitted) (citation
    omitted).
    -6-
    We begin with Williams’s argument that the March 12 and November 1 traffic
    stops were not supported by probable cause or reasonable suspicion because the
    government failed to show that a traffic violation was committed on either occasion.
    “Under the Fourth Amendment, a traffic stop is reasonable if it is
    supported by either probable cause or an articulable and reasonable
    suspicion that a traffic violation has occurred.” Any traffic violation,
    regardless of its perceived severity, provides an officer with probable
    cause to stop the driver, but the officer must have an objectively
    reasonable basis for believing that the driver has committed a violation.
    United States v. Walker, 
    840 F.3d 477
    , 483 (8th Cir. 2016) (citation omitted).
    “Whether probable cause existed is a legal question reviewed de novo.” United
    States v. Adler, 
    590 F.3d 581
    , 583 (8th Cir. 2009).
    Williams argues that the evidence presented at the suppression hearing did not
    establish that officers observed a traffic violation on either March 12 or November
    1. Specifically, he argues that the evidence does not demonstrate that 
    Ark. Code Ann. § 27-51-302
    (1) was violated on either occasion.2 
    Ark. Code Ann. § 27-51-302
    (1) provides that
    [w]henever any roadway has been divided into two (2) or more clearly
    marked lanes for traffic, . . . [a] vehicle shall be driven as nearly as
    practical within a single lane and shall not be moved from the lane until
    the driver has first ascertained that movement can be made with
    safety[.]
    Here, the district court found credible and credited the testimony of Investigator
    McKinness, who stated that, on March 12, 2015, she observed Williams’s vehicle
    “cross the line of his lane several times,” R. Doc. 320, at 7, and that “if he would
    have continued to do that and there would have been a vehicle next to him, he could
    have struck that vehicle,” R. Doc. 320, at 11. The district court also credited the
    2
    We note that the district court found probable cause existed but in doing so
    did not specifically identify § 27-51-302(1).
    -7-
    testimony of Deputy Garrison, who stated that, on November 1, 2015, he observed
    the vehicle Williams was riding in drive “[l]eft of center and right of the fog line
    three times.” R. Doc. 320, at 52. Williams’s argument that the evidence at the
    suppression hearing did not establish that either vehicle actually crossed over into
    another lane of traffic or that there was anything dangerous or unsafe about the
    vehicles’ movements is plainly foreclosed by the testimony of Investigator
    McKinness and Deputy Garrison. Because “[a] credibility determination made by a
    district court after a hearing on the merits of a motion to suppress is virtually
    unassailable on appeal” and we discern no clear error in the district court’s credibility
    findings, we conclude that this argument fails. See United States v. Stewart, 
    32 F.4th 691
    , 694 (8th Cir. 2022) (alteration in original) (citation omitted). Further, to the
    extent that Williams argues that the government failed to show that he and the driver
    of the silver Malibu did not ascertain the safety of their movements, we find such
    argument unavailing. Even if each driver did ascertain that it was safe to cross the
    lines marking their lane multiple times, Investigator McKinness’s and Deputy
    Garrison’s observations provided a reasonable basis for the belief that the drivers
    were violating § 27-51-302(1). See Walker, 840 F.3d at 483 (finding that even if
    officer was mistaken that crack in driver’s windshield obstructed driver’s view, his
    observations about the severity of the crack provided reasonable basis for belief that
    driver was violating traffic law); cf. United States v. Smart, 
    393 F.3d 767
    , 771 (8th
    Cir. 2005) (“The possibility that there was no violation, and the subsequent
    determination that there was not, does not mean that the initial suspicion was
    unreasonable.”).
    Williams next argues that the pat-down search conducted by Detective Parks
    during the March 12 stop violated his Fourth Amendment rights because Detective
    Parks lacked reasonable suspicion to perform the pat-down search and exceeded the
    boundaries of the Fourth Amendment when he reached into Williams’s pocket.
    “Officers may conduct a protective pat-down search for weapons during a valid
    stop . . . when they have objectively reasonable suspicion that a person with whom
    they are dealing might be armed and presently dangerous . . . .” United States v.
    Green, 
    946 F.3d 433
    , 439 (8th Cir. 2019) (alterations in original) (citation omitted).
    -8-
    “In determining whether reasonable suspicion exists, we consider the totality of the
    circumstances in light of the officers’ experience and specialized training.” United
    States v. Preston, 
    685 F.3d 685
    , 689 (8th Cir. 2012) (citation omitted). “The officer
    need not be absolutely certain that the individual is armed; the issue is whether a
    reasonably prudent man in the circumstances would be warranted in the belief that
    his safety or that of others was in danger.” United States v. Oliver, 
    550 F.3d 734
    ,
    738 (8th Cir. 2008) (quoting Terry v. Ohio, 
    392 U.S. 1
    , 27 (1968)). “In examining
    the relevant facts and inferences, we must keep in mind that ‘minimally intrusive
    weapons searches’ at traffic stops will more likely be reasonable because of the
    ‘inherent danger’ of traffic stops.” Preston, 685 F.3d at 689 (citation omitted).
    Here, Detective Parks was alone when he pulled Williams over, and it was
    getting dark outside and raining. Williams provided his license, proof of insurance,
    and registration, at which time Detective Parks noticed that Williams was shaking
    and would not make eye contact with him. Williams complied with Detective
    Parks’s request that he exit and come to the back of the vehicle, but repeatedly
    reached towards the front pocket of his hoodie despite being told several times not
    to do so. Williams’s nervousness, combined with his repeated reaching towards his
    front pocket despite Detective Parks’s commands not to, gave rise to reasonable
    suspicion that he might be armed and presently dangerous. See United States v.
    Cotton, 
    782 F.3d 392
    , 396 (8th Cir. 2015) (finding officers had reasonable suspicion
    where “encounter occurred in a violent area, [defendant] reached for his waistband
    as the officers were approaching, and he had a nervous look on his face”); United
    States v. Ellis, 
    501 F.3d 958
    , 962 (8th Cir. 2007) (finding “combination of
    [defendant’s] nervous behavior and the movement of his hand toward his pocket
    after he was questioned about a weapon” during encounter in house known for drug
    activity gave rise to reasonable suspicion to justify pat-down search); United States
    v. Peoples, 
    925 F.2d 1082
    , 1087 (8th Cir. 1991) (considering defendant’s refusal to
    comply with officers command in reasonable suspicion analysis).
    Further, Detective Parks did not exceed the allowable scope of the pat-down
    search when he reached into Williams’s pocket. “Because the ‘sole justification’ for
    -9-
    such a search is the protection of the officer and others, its scope must be confined
    to a search reasonably designed to discover concealed weapons.” United States v.
    Muhammad, 
    604 F.3d 1022
    , 1026 (8th Cir. 2010) (citation omitted). “An officer
    may, however, seize nonthreatening contraband detected during a pat-down search
    for weapons as long as the search itself ‘stays within the bounds marked by Terry.’”
    United States v. Hanlon, 
    401 F.3d 926
    , 930 (8th Cir. 2005) (quoting Minnesota v.
    Dickerson, 
    508 U.S. 366
    , 373 (1993)). Still, “if an officer seizes an item of
    contraband from an individual’s person after having concluded that no weapons are
    present, the evidence will be suppressed.” 
    Id.
     Here, there is no indication in the
    record that Detective Parks had already concluded that no weapons were present
    when he removed the bags of methamphetamine from Williams’s front pocket.
    Though he testified that the object did not feel like a gun, he had not ruled out that
    the object could have been a weapon. Thus, we conclude that Detective Parks stayed
    within the bounds of Terry when he reached into Williams’s front pocket. See
    Muhammad, 
    604 F.3d at 1026-27
     (holding that pat-down search stayed within the
    bounds of Terry where officer determined that four-inch by three-inch hard object
    in defendant’s back pocket could be a weapon or could conceal a weapon); Hanlon,
    
    401 F.3d at 930
     (concluding pat-down search did not exceed allowable scope of
    Terry where officer was concerned that “admittedly small object in [defendant’s]
    coin pocket could have been a pocketknife or some other type of weapon”).
    Finally, Williams argues that the inventory search of his vehicle conducted
    during the March 12 stop was unconstitutional. “The Fourth Amendment proscribes
    all unreasonable searches and seizures, and it is a cardinal principle that ‘searches
    conducted outside the judicial process, without prior approval by judge or
    magistrate, are per se unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment—subject only to
    a few specifically established and well-delineated exceptions.’” United States v.
    Taylor, 
    636 F.3d 461
    , 464 (8th Cir. 2011) (quoting Mincey v. Arizona, 
    437 U.S. 385
    , 390 (1978)). “Inventory searches are one of the well-defined exceptions to the
    warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment.” United States v. Morris, 
    915 F.3d 552
    , 556 (8th Cir. 2019) (citation omitted).               “The inventory search
    exception . . . permits law enforcement to inventory the contents of a vehicle that is
    -10-
    lawfully taken into custody, even without a warrant or probable cause to search.”
    United States v. Garreau, 
    658 F.3d 854
    , 857 (8th Cir. 2011). Still, “‘[a]n inventory
    search must be reasonable under the totality of the circumstances’; therefore, law
    enforcement may not use an inventory search as ‘a ruse for general rummaging in
    order to discover incriminating evidence.’” United States v. Nevatt, 
    960 F.3d 1015
    ,
    1020 (8th Cir. 2020) (per curiam) (citation omitted). “The reasonableness
    requirement is met when an inventory search is conducted according to standardized
    police procedures, which generally ‘remove the inference that the police have used
    inventory searches as “a purposeful and general means of discovering evidence of a
    crime.”’” Taylor, 
    636 F.3d at 464
     (citation omitted).
    Here, though neither party introduced a written standard police procedure for
    inventory searches or an inventory of the vehicle’s contents as evidence at the
    suppression hearing, the district court found Detective Parks credible, that his
    uncontroverted testimony was sufficient to establish that the PCSO had an inventory
    search policy, and that the inventory search of Williams’s vehicle complied with that
    policy. Accordingly, the district court concluded that the search of Williams’s
    vehicle did not violate the Fourth Amendment. Because “[a] credibility
    determination made by a district court after a hearing on the merits of a motion to
    suppress is virtually unassailable on appeal,” Nevatt, 960 F.3d at 1020 (citation
    omitted), and nothing in the record indicates that the PCSO did not have an inventory
    search policy or that Detective Parks failed to follow that policy, we decline to
    disturb the finding of the district court, see United States v. Lowe, 
    9 F.3d 43
    , 46 (8th
    Cir. 1993) (finding testimony that department policy was to inventory vehicles of
    persons taken into custody sufficient to establish existence of inventory search
    policy). Further, the record does not indicate that Detective Parks had an
    investigative motive. Detective Parks testified that, in accordance with PCSO
    policy, because there were no occupants in Williams’s vehicle to take control of the
    vehicle, he called a wrecker and searched Williams’s vehicle before it was loaded
    on the wrecker and, despite his indication on his report that he searched the car
    pursuant to probable cause, he would have conducted an inventory search regardless
    of whether or not he believed there was probable cause to search the vehicle. Cf.
    -11-
    Taylor, 
    636 F.3d at 465
     (concluding inventory search was a pretext for an
    investigatory search where officer “testified that she would not have arrested
    [defendant], impounded his vehicle, or inventoried the contents of the truck if not
    for her belief that the vehicle contained evidence of a narcotics crime”). That
    Detective Parks happened upon contraband in the course of this search does not
    transform an otherwise valid inventory search into a violation of the Fourth
    Amendment. See Garreau, 
    658 F.3d at 858
     (“Officers performing a lawful inventory
    search ‘may keep their eyes open for potentially incriminating items that they might
    discover in the course of an inventory search, as long as their sole purpose is not to
    investigate a crime.’” (citation omitted)).
    B.
    Williams next argues that there was insufficient evidence to support the jury’s
    finding of guilt as to Counts 14 and 15 of the second superseding indictment, which
    charged Williams with possession of the methamphetamine found inside the
    pillowcase on November 1, in violation of § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A), and the cocaine
    found inside the pillowcase, in violation of § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C), respectively. He
    contends that the government failed to demonstrate, and no reasonable juror could
    have concluded, that he possessed these drugs. “We review ‘sufficiency of the
    evidence de novo, viewing evidence in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict,
    resolving conflicts in the government’s favor, and accepting all reasonable
    inferences that support the verdict.’” United States v. Cooper, 
    990 F.3d 576
    , 581
    (8th Cir. 2021) (citation omitted). “The verdict will be upheld if there is any
    interpretation of the evidence that could lead a reasonable jury to convict.” United
    States v. Njoroge, 
    25 F.4th 555
    , 558 (8th Cir. 2022) (citation omitted).
    “In order to prove that [Williams] possessed [methamphetamine and cocaine]
    with the intent to distribute it, violating 
    21 U.S.C. § 841
    (a)(1), the [g]overnment
    must prove that he knowingly possessed the [drugs] with the intent to distribute
    [them].” United States v. Wright, 
    739 F.3d 1160
    , 1167 (8th Cir. 2014); see also
    United States v. Espinoza, 
    684 F.3d 766
    , 777 (8th Cir. 2012) (“The offense of
    -12-
    possession with intent to distribute consists of two elements: knowing possession of
    [cocaine and methamphetamine] and the intent to distribute it.” (alteration in
    original) (citation omitted)). Williams argues only that the evidence at trial was
    insufficient to prove that he possessed the drugs. “Proof of actual possession or
    constructive possession is sufficient to satisfy the element of knowing possession
    under [§] 841(a)(1).” United States v. Johnson, 
    18 F.3d 641
    , 647 (8th Cir. 1994).
    Constructive possession exists where a defendant has “knowledge of presence, plus
    control over the thing.” Id.; see also United States v. Cuevas-Arrendondo, 
    469 F.3d 712
    , 715 (8th Cir. 2006) (“Constructive possession requires knowledge of an object,
    the ability to control it, and the intent to do so.” (citation omitted)). Still, to prove
    constructive possession, the government must “establish some nexus between a
    defendant and the contraband; mere physical proximity to the contraband is
    insufficient.” Johnson, 
    18 F.3d at 647
    .
    Here, there is ample evidence supporting the conclusion that Williams had
    constructive possession of the black sack of methamphetamine and cocaine found
    inside the pillowcase at the Wooten Road residence on November 1. The evidence
    at trial demonstrated that Williams was observed arriving at and departing from
    Mitchell’s home shortly after Williams called Mitchell and arranged to buy
    methamphetamine and cocaine from him; surveillance units followed the vehicle
    Williams was riding in from the time the vehicle left Mitchell’s residence until
    Deputy Garrison stopped the vehicle; while Deputy Garrison was running
    Williams’s information through the police system, Williams fled into a nearby
    residence; the woman who rented the house told officers that Williams burst through
    the front door with a black sack in his hands, ran into the back bedroom, and came
    back to the front of the house without the black sack; another occupant of the house
    testified that Williams ran through the house “as if he were carrying a football”; the
    woman who rented the house testified that there was no methamphetamine in her
    house before Williams ran in and out of her house; and officers found a black sack
    containing methamphetamine and cocaine in the back bedroom of the house.
    Viewing this evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, a reasonable jury
    -13-
    could conclude that Williams knowingly possessed the black sack containing
    methamphetamine and cocaine found inside the pillowcase.3
    C.
    Williams finally argues that the district court erred in not instructing the jury
    that a heightened showing is required in constructive possession cases where
    contraband is found in the home of another. Williams does not clearly explain what
    exactly this “heightened showing” is, and he does not dispute that he failed to object
    to the relevant instruction at trial. “We typically review a challenge to jury
    instructions for an abuse of discretion. Where a party fails to timely object to an
    instruction at trial, however, we review only for plain error.” United States v. Poitra,
    
    648 F.3d 884
    , 887 (8th Cir. 2011) (citation omitted). “To obtain relief under
    plain-error review, the party seeking relief must show that there was an error; the
    error is clear or obvious under current law; the error affected the party’s substantial
    rights; and the error seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of
    judicial proceedings.” United States v. Bolman, 
    956 F.3d 583
    , 587 (8th Cir. 2020).
    “The district court has wide discretion in formulating appropriate jury instructions.”
    Poitra, 
    648 F.3d at 887
     (citation omitted). “A jury instruction is plainly erroneous if
    it misstates the law.” United States v. Fast Horse, 
    747 F.3d 1040
    , 1042 (8th Cir.
    2014). However, “[j]ury instructions are adequate if, taken as a whole, [they]
    adequately advise the jury of the essential elements of the offenses charged and the
    3
    In two sentences in his opening brief to this Court and by passing mention in
    his reply brief, Williams seems to argue that because the evidence is not sufficient
    to support his convictions on Counts 14 and 15, his conspiracy conviction under
    Count 1 should be vacated as well. Because we conclude that the evidence is
    sufficient to support Williams’s convictions on Counts 14 and 15, we need not
    address this argument. Further, even if we were to conclude that the evidence is
    insufficient to support Williams’s convictions on Counts 14 and 15, Williams fails
    to meaningfully argue that such a finding necessitates vacating his conviction on
    Count 1 as well. See Ahlberg v. Chrysler Corp., 
    481 F.3d 630
    , 634 (8th Cir. 2007)
    (“[P]oints not meaningfully argued in an opening brief are waived.”).
    -14-
    burden of proof required of the government.” 
    Id.
     (second alteration in original)
    (citation omitted).
    Here, the instruction given to the jury was Eighth Circuit Manual of Model
    Jury Instructions 8.02, which reads in relevant part: “A person who, although not in
    actual possession, has both the power and the intention at a given time to exercise
    dominion or control over a thing, either directly or through another person or
    persons, is then in constructive possession of it.” Compare Eighth Circuit Manual
    of Model Jury Instructions (Criminal) 8.02 (2018), with R. Doc. 370, at 11, and R.
    Doc. 437, at 50. “A defendant is not entitled to a particularly worded instruction as
    long as the instructions fairly and adequately instruct the jurors on the applicable
    law,” United States v. Gilmore, 
    968 F.3d 883
    , 886 (8th Cir. 2020), and this Court
    has found this instruction to be adequate, see, e.g., Espinoza, 684 F.3d at 783
    (holding possession instruction that followed 8.02 “fairly and adequately submitted
    the issue of possession to the jury”). Thus, we find that the district court did not
    commit plain error by failing to sua sponte instruct the jury as to some unspecified
    “heightened showing” required to prove constructive possession.
    III.
    The government cross-appeals Williams’s sentence, arguing that the district
    court procedurally erred when it relied on clearly erroneous facts in imposing a
    substantial downward variance. The government contends that the district court
    erred when it concluded that Williams and his co-defendant, Jeremy Larry, were
    similarly situated because, contrary to the district court’s statement that Larry had
    an offense level in the “high 30s,” Larry’s base offense level was 32 and his total
    offense level was 29. Typically, “[i]n reviewing a sentence for procedural error, we
    review the district court’s factual findings for clear error and its application of the
    guidelines de novo.” United States v. Ayres, 
    929 F.3d 581
    , 583 (8th Cir. 2019)
    (citation omitted). However, the government failed to object to the district court’s
    alleged procedural error at sentencing, and therefore, we review the district court’s
    sentence for plain error. See United States v. Wise, 
    17 F.4th 785
    , 788 (8th Cir.
    -15-
    2021). “To obtain relief under plain-error review, the party seeking relief must show
    that there was an error; the error is clear or obvious under current law; the error
    affected the party’s substantial rights; and the error seriously affects the fairness,
    integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings.” Bolman, 956 F.3d at 587.
    “Procedural error” includes “failing to calculate (or improperly
    calculating) the Guidelines range, treating the Guidelines as mandatory,
    failing to consider the § 3553(a) factors, selecting a sentence based on
    clearly erroneous facts, or failing to adequately explain the chosen
    sentence—including an explanation for any deviation from the
    Guidelines range.”
    United States v. Feemster, 
    572 F.3d 455
    , 461 (8th Cir. 2009) (en banc) (quoting Gall
    v. United States, 
    552 U.S. 38
    , 51 (2007)).
    Here, the district court did mistakenly state that Larry had an offense level in
    the high thirties when he actually had a total offense level of 29. However, the
    district court also considered that both Williams and Larry had a criminal history
    category of VI and still applied the variance after hearing the government’s
    arguments that Larry accepted responsibility and Williams did not, Williams’s
    criminal history score was much higher than Larry’s, and Williams’s conduct in the
    case was “more” than Larry’s. Further, the district court noted the absence of
    firearms and violence in the case, Williams’s traumatic childhood, and Williams’s
    progress in understanding and coming to terms with himself and his history. In light
    of these circumstances, we conclude that there is no reasonable probability that, but
    for the district court’s error, Williams would have received a higher sentence, and
    thus, the district court’s error did not affect the government’s substantial rights. See
    United States v. McClendon, 609 F. App’x 488, 489 (9th Cir. 2015) (“Ordinarily, an
    error affects an appellant’s substantial rights if it ‘affect[s] the outcome of the district
    court proceedings.’” (alteration in original) (quoting Puckett v. United States, 
    556 U.S. 129
    , 135 (2009)); United States v. Morgan, 635 F. App’x 423, 442 (10th Cir.
    2015) (explaining that an error “that affects substantial rights” is one that “affects
    the outcome of the proceeding” (citation omitted)); cf. United States v. Isler, 983
    -16-
    F.3d 335, 343 (8th Cir. 2020) (“To demonstrate an effect on substantial rights, [the
    defendant] must show a reasonable probability that but for the error, he would have
    received a more favorable sentence.” (alteration in original) (citation omitted)).
    IV.
    For the foregoing reasons, we affirm Williams’s conviction and sentence.
    ______________________________
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