United States v. Christopher Texidor

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedJanuary 8, 2026
Docket24-3314
StatusPublished

This text of United States v. Christopher Texidor (United States v. Christopher Texidor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Christopher Texidor, (3d Cir. 2026).

Opinion

U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

Nos. 24-3314 and 24-3315

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

v.

CHRISTOPHER TEXIDOR a/k/a Fats, Appellant

Appeal from the U.S. District Court, M.D.Pa. Judge Jennifer P. Wilson Nos. 1:20-cr-00286-001 & 1:23-cr-00052-002

Before: Porter, Freeman, and Chung, Circuit Judges Argued: Oct. 22, 2025 Decided: Jan. 8, 2026

OPINION OF THE COURT

CHUNG, Circuit Judge. After a six-day trial, a jury convicted Christopher Texidor of various drug and firearm offenses. In a separate case, Texidor pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. Texidor was sentenced on both cases to an aggregate term of imprisonment of 292 months on the drug and firearm offenses and a concurrent term of 240 months’ imprisonment on the wire fraud case. Texidor argues that the District Court abused its discretion in failing to strike certain portions of the Presentence Investigation Report (“PSR”); committed clear error by applying a four-level leadership enhancement when calculating his advisory range of imprisonment per the United States Sentencing Guidelines (“Guidelines” or U.S.S.G.); abused its discretion by imposing an aggregate sentence of 292 months’ imprisonment for his conspiracy to distribute marijuana conviction; and abused its discretion by imposing a concurrent sentence of 240 months’ imprisonment for his wire fraud conviction. We will affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

On November 4, 2020, Christopher Texidor and five co- defendants were indicted on multiple counts relating to their conduct as part of a drug trafficking organization in conspiring to traffic nearly 3,000 kilograms of marijuana from California to Pennsylvania through the United States Postal Service. The organization used Texidor’s business, Fastlane Auto Sales, LLC, as a cover for its operation and his residence as a physical base to facilitate their activities. Intercepted phone calls captured regular communications between (1) Texidor and family members and friends whom he had enlisted to receive parcels on behalf of the organization; (2) Texidor and drug customers; and (3) Texidor and other co-conspirators, in which Texidor discussed drop-offs and pickups of marijuana shipments, sales, debts, payments due, and the location of

2 various parcel shipments. Texidor and his co-conspirators also established an account with Stamps.com to facilitate their shipments.

In the fall of 2019, Texidor, along with other members of the organization, observed that certain parcels were going missing. Texidor and three of the co-conspirators implemented a GPS tracking system for the parcels. Through the tracking system, they eventually uncovered the identity and residence of the person stealing the parcels, a postal employee named D.H. Texidor and others then agreed to hire gunmen to intimidate and threaten D.H. to stop him from stealing their shipments. The gunmen conducted a drive-by shooting of D.H.’s vehicle and reported to Texidor afterwards, leaving the vehicle they used at Texidor’s home. Texidor later hid the vehicle at his uncle’s residence. In the ensuing days, another shooter conducted a drive-by shooting at a residence where D.H. had been observed to stay. This was followed by a drive- by shooting at a different residence. A few months later, two masked men followed D.H. to a third residence and approached him while brandishing firearms. D.H. ran, and the conspirators took his truck, which contained a concealed firearm and marijuana D.H. had taken from the post office earlier that morning.

In May 2020, investigators executed a series of search warrants at various locations affiliated with the group, including Fastlane Auto Sales and Texidor’s residence. At the Fast Lane Auto Sales location, law enforcement officers found

3 marijuana, GPS tracking devices, a money counter, a vacuum sealer, and mailing labels, consistent with parcels intercepted by investigators. A0811–0816. Their search of Texidor’s residence resulted in the recovery of $17,000 in a seat cushion, two pistols registered to Texidor, GPS tracking devices, marijuana, a vacuum sealer, and a digital scale.

On March 16, 2023, Texidor was charged in a superseding indictment with multiple counts relating to his conspiring to distribute, and distributing, marijuana; conspiring to distribute cocaine; conspiring to use a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking; and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. After a 6-day jury trial, the jury convicted Texidor on all counts except for the cocaine charge and the latter firearm charge.

Texidor was also charged under a separate indictment with three counts relating to his participation in a scheme to defraud the United States Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). With respect to that scheme, on May 3, 2021, while on pretrial release for his drug trafficking charges, Texidor and others submitted applications containing false representations to a third-party lender seeking funds from the PPP program. As a result, Texidor and the other participants each received approximately $20,000 in PPP loans. Following his conviction at trial for the drug trafficking offenses, Texidor pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. The other charges were dismissed.

4 Texidor’s drug trafficking and wire fraud convictions were considered together for sentencing purposes. The District Court calculated Texidor’s Guidelines range at 292 to 365 months after finding a total offense level of 40 and criminal history category of I. Texidor objected to references in the PSR to cocaine and cocaine trafficking given that he was acquitted of the single cocaine charge in the Superseding Indictment, objected to the District Court’s imposition of a four-level leadership enhancement pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(a), and argued for a downward variance. With respect to his request for a downward variance, Texidor pointed to the potential rescheduling of marijuana to a Schedule III controlled substance and in particular the Department of Justice’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on May 16, 2024 proposing the DEA reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III.

The District Court struck one reference to cocaine in the PSR, overruled Texidor’s objections to the remaining cocaine references, and overruled Texidor’s objections to the leadership enhancement. Declining to vary from the Guidelines range of imprisonment, it sentenced Texidor to 292 months’ imprisonment, which consisted of: 292 months’ imprisonment for conspiring to distribute marijuana, 240 months’ imprisonment on the other drug-related counts as well as the firearm count, 60 months’ imprisonment for possession with intent to distribute marijuana, and 240 months’ imprisonment for wire fraud. All sentences were to run concurrently. Texidor now appeals.

5 II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review the District Court’s interpretation of the Guidelines de novo, United States v. Seibert, 971 F.3d 396, 399 (3d Cir. 2020), its “application of the Guidelines to facts for abuse of discretion,” and its factual findings for clear error, United States v. Tupone, 442 F.3d 145, 149 (3d Cir. 2006). However, when the Guidelines set forth a “predominantly fact- driven test,” as is the case for the organizer or leader enhancement pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(a), we apply clear error review to the District Court’s determination and will conclude that the District Court “abused its discretion in applying the enhancement based on a particular set of facts only if those facts were clearly erroneous.” United States v. Thung Van Huynh, 884 F.3d 160

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United States v. Christopher Texidor, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-christopher-texidor-ca3-2026.