United States v. Riley Carnahan, 684 F.3d 732

Carnahan pled guilty conditionally to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug offense; he reserved rights to appeal.
Warrants were issued April 23 and 25, 2010 to search Carnahan’s Bettendorf residence and Penny Juice Company in Davenport, Iowa.
Warrants were supported by affidavits describing three controlled buys by an informant (John Doe) corroborated by surveillance and tips, leading to seizure of drugs, firearms, and paraphernalia.
Carnahan moved to suppress the evidence and sought a Franks hearing alleging omissions about the informant’s criminal history and motive; the district court denied both.
The district court later held Carnahan’s guilty plea to Count 1 subject to drug-quantity findings, which affected potential penalties; sentencing included a substantial-assistance-based reduction.
On appeal, Carnahan challenges the denials of suppression and Franks relief, and the district court’s denial of the plea to a lesser quantity.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Franks hearing standard and omissions	Carnahan argues omitted informant history shows deliberate falsehoods	Carnahan contends omissions undermine probable cause	No Franks hearing required; omissions not clearly critical to probable cause
Probable cause for warrants over ongoing trafficking	Affidavits show ongoing trafficking through corroborated buys	Buys were stale and independent tip insufficient	Totality supported probable cause; not stale; warrants valid
Guilty plea to conspiracy with undisclosed drug quantity	Plea to count with quantities is appropriate with government consent and Rule 11 requirements	No absolute right to plead to a charge with different quantities; insufficient factual basis without agreeing to quantities	Denial of plea to lesser quantity affirmed; Brown controls; no adequate factual basis

United States v. Williams, 477 F.3d 554 (8th Cir. 2007) (substantial showing required for Franks omitted information)
United States v. Smith, 581 F.3d 692 (8th Cir. 2009) (omissions not automatically fatal to probable cause)
United States v. Montes-Medina, 570 F.3d 1052 (8th Cir. 2009) (totality supports probable cause in drug-trafficking search)
Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213 (S. Ct. 1983) (totality-of-the-circumstances approach for probable cause)
United States v. Brown, 331 F.3d 591 (8th Cir. 2003) (denial of an untoward plea when insufficient factual basis)
United States v. Michel-Galaviz, 415 F.3d 946 (8th Cir. 2005) (defendant has no absolute right to plead to a charge different from indictment)