Appellate Case: 22-4124 Document: 148-1 Date Filed: 08/20/2025 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit
FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT August 20, 2025 _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v. No. 22-4124 (D.C. No. 2:16-CR-00056-RJS-JCB-5) CHRISTOPHER KENNETH FLYNN, (D. Utah)
Defendant - Appellant. _________________________________
ORDER AND JUDGMENT* _________________________________
Before HARTZ, BALDOCK, and PHILLIPS, Circuit Judges. _________________________________
Defendant Christopher Flynn was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to
distribute methamphetamine and heroin, as well as two firearms offenses. Mr. Flynn
now appeals his convictions, arguing that the district court violated his rights under
the Speedy Trial Act and the Sixth Amendment by failing to conduct his trial in a
timely fashion, and that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support one
* After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously to honor the parties’ request for a decision on the briefs without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(f); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1. Appellate Case: 22-4124 Document: 148-1 Date Filed: 08/20/2025 Page: 2
of his firearms convictions. Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we
reject Mr. Flynn’s arguments and affirm his convictions.
I
In 2015, Hiram Gamaliel Perez-Tapia and Elizabeth Martinez began
trafficking methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin in Salt Lake City, Utah. As part
of their operation, Mr. Perez-Tapia and Ms. Martinez obtained drugs from sources in
Arizona and sold those drugs to other dealers, including Mr. Flynn, as well as to
street-level users. Because Mr. Perez-Tapia is blind, Ms. Martinez significantly
assisted him in the operation, including driving him around, handling drugs and
money, and maintaining logs of incoming and outgoing drug supplies and proceeds.
Mr. Perez-Tapia and Ms. Martinez initially sold methamphetamine to
Mr. Flynn, including amounts up to three pounds per day. As the relationship
continued, Mr. Perez-Tapia and Ms. Martinez also sold heroin and cocaine to
Mr. Flynn and they began “front[ing]” the drugs to Mr. Flynn and allowing him to
pay down his debt over time. R. vol. IV at 320. Mr. Perez-Tapia, who was a gun
enthusiast, also allowed Mr. Flynn to pay his debt with firearms. During the period
they worked together, Mr. Flynn provided Mr. Perez-Tapia with between sixteen and
twenty firearms.
In late 2015, Ms. Martinez had a change of heart. Unbeknownst to Mr. Perez-
Tapia, she approached law enforcement officials and provided them with information
about the organization’s suppliers, dealers, and customers. The list of identified
dealers included Mr. Flynn. Based on the information provided by Ms. Martinez,
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federal agents obtained and executed a search warrant at Mr. Perez-Tapia’s house
while he was in Arizona. During the course of the search, they seized several
firearms Mr. Perez-Tapia had received from Mr. Flynn as payment for drugs.
Federal agents also obtained a wiretap for Mr. Flynn’s phone and began
intercepting his communications with others in the organization, including Mr. Perez-
Tapia. When Mr. Perez-Tapia returned home and discovered his guns were missing,
he assumed he had been robbed and reached out to Mr. Flynn to bring him some
“toys,” i.e., guns, so they could teach the robbers a “lesson.” Id. at 921–22.
Mr. Flynn arranged to deliver firearms to Mr. Perez-Tapia in a hotel parking lot in
downtown Salt Lake City.
Federal agents observed Mr. Flynn deliver multiple firearms to Mr. Perez-
Tapia’s car, then stopped the car as it left the hotel, arrested Mr. Perez-Tapia and his
driver, and seized the firearms. The agents arrested Mr. Flynn a few weeks later.
II
In February 2016, Mr. Flynn was charged by complaint with conspiracy to
distribute methamphetamine. A federal grand jury subsequently indicted Mr. Flynn,
Mr. Perez-Tapia, and four coconspirators on multiple drug and firearms charges.
Mr. Flynn was charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, heroin, and
cocaine, all in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, as well as two firearms charges:
possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of
18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A); and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, in
violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1).
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The district court initially set a trial for all defendants in April 2016. In March
2016, however, Mr. Flynn replaced his attorney and his new counsel moved for a
continuance. The district court granted that motion and reset the trial for June 2016.
Mr. Flynn’s codefendants then moved for and were granted a continuance of the trial
until early 2017. Prior to trial, Mr. Flynn and his codefendants moved to determine
the admissibility of coconspirator statements at trial. That resulted in the district
court vacating the early 2017 trial date. After the district court resolved the
defendants’ motion, it reset the trial for July 2017.
In February 2017, Mr. Flynn replaced his second attorney. At a final pretrial
conference in June 2017, Mr. Flynn’s third attorney moved to continue the trial so he
could have time to adequately prepare. The district court granted the motion and
vacated the July 2017 trial date. In the meantime, all of Mr. Flynn’s codefendants
pleaded guilty.
Between July 2017 and early 2020, Mr. Flynn changed counsel approximately
four additional times and, for that reason and others, the trial was continued. In late
February 2020, the grand jury returned a second superseding indictment that removed
the conspiracy to distribute cocaine charge and made other minor changes to the
remaining charges against Mr. Flynn.
A scheduled March 2020 trial date was vacated due to the Covid-19 pandemic
and rescheduled for June 2020. In May 2020, Mr. Flynn replaced his counsel yet
again. The district court subsequently continued the trial. In the fall of 2020,
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Mr. Flynn’s counsel filed additional suppression and discovery motions, as well as a
motion for continuance.
Due to discovery issues and pandemic-related concerns, the trial date was
continued several more times. In October 2021, Ms. Martinez died. In November
2021, Mr. Flynn’s counsel moved for a continuance of the scheduled February 2022
trial date. The district court denied the motion for continuance.
In early 2022, Mr. Flynn’s relationship with his attorney deteriorated and he
requested permission to proceed pro se. The magistrate judge held a Faretta1
hearing, at which Mr. Flynn alleged that his seven prior attorneys had all
“sabotage[d]” his case. R. vol. VI at 325. Mr. Flynn asked the court to continue the
scheduled trial date to give him time to adequately prepare to represent himself. The
magistrate judge granted Mr. Flynn’s request to represent himself, but noted that the
decision whether to continue the trial would be left to the district court.
The district court subsequently vacated the February 2022 trial date and
granted the government’s motion to continue the trial to July 2022 due to pandemic-
related concerns and Mr. Flynn’s need for additional time to prepare for trial.
Mr. Flynn then filed two motions to dismiss, one of which argued that the “first
indictment” against him remained “pending” and violated the Speedy Trial Act. The
district court denied both motions. R. vol. II at 580.
1 Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 835–36 (1975) (holding that a defendant has the right to represent himself, which he may exercise by voluntarily and intelligently waiving his right to counsel). 5 Appellate Case: 22-4124 Document: 148-1 Date Filed: 08/20/2025 Page: 6
The case proceeded to trial in July 2022. At the conclusion of the evidence,
the jury found Mr. Flynn guilty on all counts. The district court subsequently
sentenced Mr. Flynn to a term of imprisonment of 236 months, to be followed by a
five-year term of supervised release.
III
Mr. Flynn raises three issues on appeal. In his first and second issues, he
argues the district court violated his rights under the Speedy Trial Act (STA) and the
Sixth Amendment by allowing him to “languish[] in pretrial incarceration for 2,363
days before his trial.” Aplt. Br. at 12. He asserts the proper remedy for these alleged
violations is dismissal of the charges against him. In his third issue, Mr. Flynn
challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his § 924(c) conviction. For
the reasons that follow, we reject all of Mr. Flynn’s arguments.
A
The STA requires “a criminal trial [to] commence within 70 days from the
indictment’s filing or the defendant’s initial appearance in court, whichever date
occurs later.” United States v. Ray, 899 F.3d 852, 861 (10th Cir. 2018) (citing
18 U.S.C. § 3161(c)(1)). To preserve a claim under the STA, a defendant must
“move for dismissal prior to trial or entry of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere.”
18 U.S.C. § 3162(a)(2). Importantly, “a defendant’s pretrial motion to dismiss under
the STA must include the specific STA objection that he or she raises on appeal;
otherwise that objection is waived.” Ray, 899 F.3d at 861; see United States v.
Loughrin, 710 F.3d 1111, 1121 (10th Cir. 2013) (interpreting § 3162(a)(2) “to mean
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that we may not conduct any review of [STA] arguments unraised below, not even
for plain error”).
In March 2022, Mr. Flynn filed a pro se motion to dismiss the second
superseding indictment. In that motion, Mr. Flynn argued that the district court
“ha[d] not dismissed” the “first indictment” and that, as a result, “the charges” in that
indictment “[we]re still pending.”2 R. vol. II at 580. He in turn argued that the
district court’s “failure to dismiss the first indictment of the charges against [him]
violate[d] the time limits under 18 USC [§] 3161.” Id. Mr. Flynn also separately
argued that the district court violated the STA by (a) granting an ends-of-justice
continuance of the trial from March 31, 2020, to June 2, 2020, and (b) continuing the
trial from February 1, 2022, to July 26, 2022, due to Covid-related concerns.
In this appeal, however, Mr. Flynn makes an entirely different set of
arguments. Specifically, he focuses on ten “contested periods of time” that he
“asserts should be counted toward his speedy trial clock.” Aplt. Br. at 15. These
include: (1) February 11 to March 21, 2016; (2) March 24 to April 8, 2016; (3) April
27 to May 1, 2017; (4) July 31 to August 25, 2017; (5) January 11 to June 6, 2019
(but excluding March 14 to 20, 2019); (6) September 16 to September 30, 2019;
(7) December 3 to December 5, 2019; (8) December 6 to December 19, 2019;
(9) June 2 to June 17, 2020; and (10) August 26 to September 1, 2020.
2 It is unclear whether Mr. Flynn was referring to the original indictment or the first superseding indictment. 7 Appellate Case: 22-4124 Document: 148-1 Date Filed: 08/20/2025 Page: 8
Because Mr. Flynn did not raise any of these arguments in his pretrial motion
to dismiss, they are now waived for purposes of appeal. Ray, 899 F.3d at 861.
B
Mr. Flynn also invokes the Sixth Amendment, which guarantees all criminal
defendants “the right to a speedy and public trial.” U.S. Const. amend. VI. Before
we may address this claim, however, we must determine whether Mr. Flynn timely
raised the claim in the district court.
Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 12(b)(3)(A)(iii) requires “a violation of
the constitutional right to a speedy trial” to “be raised by pretrial motion if the basis
for the motion is then reasonably available and the motion can be determined without
a trial on the merits.” Fed. R. Crim. P. 12(b)(3)(A)(iii). Rule 12(c)(3) in turn
addresses the consequences of not making a timely motion under Rule 12(b)(3): “If a
party does not meet the deadline for making a Rule 12(b)(3) motion, the motion is
untimely. But a court may consider the defense, objection, or request if the party
shows good cause.” Fed. R. Crim. P. 12(c)(3).
As noted, Mr. Flynn filed a pro se pretrial motion to dismiss the second
superseding indictment arguing, in relevant part, that the district court violated his
rights under the STA by continuing the trial from February 1, 2022, to July 26, 2022.
As part of that argument, Mr. Flynn asserted: “The defendant’s speed[y] trial was
violated of 18 USC [§] 3161[(h)](7)(c), and his constitutional right was violated and
suffered an unfair and bias decision with [sic] was prejudice [sic] to the defendant
and the case against the defendant dismissed.” R. vol. II at 581 (emphasis added).
8 Appellate Case: 22-4124 Document: 148-1 Date Filed: 08/20/2025 Page: 9
Mr. Flynn concedes he never cited the Sixth Amendment, but argues that his
reference to “constitutional right” should be liberally construed as asserting a Sixth
Amendment violation. Aplt. Reply Br. at 7.
Two facts undercut Mr. Flynn’s argument. First, in the preceding page of his
motion to dismiss, Mr. Flynn argued that the district court, by allegedly failing to
dismiss the “first indictment,” had violated his “fifth amendment” right to be
“indicted by a grand jury,” his right to “due process,” and his right to “the effective
assistance of counsel.” R. vol. II at 580. In light of those arguments, it is not clear
that Mr. Flynn’s generic reference to “constitutional right” on the following page was
intended to invoke his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial. Second, neither the
government nor the district court construed Mr. Flynn’s pro se pretrial motion to
dismiss in the manner that Mr. Flynn now suggests, i.e., as asserting a violation of his
Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial. Instead, the district court construed
Mr. Flynn’s motion as raising only a speedy trial challenge under the STA. And,
after the district court denied Mr. Flynn’s motion, he remained silent and did not seek
reconsideration of the district court’s decision.
For these reasons, we conclude Mr. Flynn failed to present his Sixth
Amendment argument to the district court in a timely fashion as required by
Rule 12(b)(3)(A)(iii). And, because Mr. Flynn makes no attempt in his appeal to
show good cause for his failure to do so, his Sixth Amendment claim is waived for
purposes of appeal pursuant to Rule 12(c)(3). See United States v. Bowline, 917 F.3d
1227, 1230, 1237 (10th Cir. 2019) (construing Rule 12(c)(3) as allowing an untimely
9 Appellate Case: 22-4124 Document: 148-1 Date Filed: 08/20/2025 Page: 10
Rule 12 motion to be considered only when the movant shows good cause); United
States v. Vance, 893 F.3d 763, 769 (10th Cir. 2018) (“Failure to comply with the
timeliness requirement set out in Rule 12 constitutes a waiver.”).
Finally, even assuming that Mr. Flynn presented his Sixth Amendment
argument to the district court in a timely fashion and thus satisfied Rule 12(b)(3), we
are not persuaded his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial was violated. See
generally Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 530 (1972) (outlining four factors that must
be balanced in assessing an alleged violation of the Sixth Amendment right to a
speedy trial); United States v. Medina, 918 F.3d 774, 788 (10th Cir. 2019) (“We
review a defendant’s claim under the Sixth Amendment’s Speedy Trial Clause de
novo,” including the assessment of the Barker factors). To be sure, the delay of more
than six years between Mr. Flynn’s original indictment and his trial is presumptively
prejudicial. See Barker, 407 U.S. at 530. But that presumption is overcome when we
examine the reasons for the delay, whether Mr. Flynn asserted his right to a speedy
trial, and whether the delay prejudiced him. See id. The record in this case makes
quite plain that the bulk of the delay was attributable to two reasons: (1) the Covid-19
pandemic; and, more significantly, (2) Mr. Flynn’s own litigation conduct, which
included changing attorneys seven times before deciding to represent himself,
moving to suppress evidence nearly a dozen times, moving to dismiss the charges
against him at least five times, and requesting nearly twenty trial continuances. See
United States v. Keith, 61 F.4th 839, 852 (10th Cir. 2023) (noting “a defendant’s
actions that delay his own trial weigh heavily against him for purposes of the second
10 Appellate Case: 22-4124 Document: 148-1 Date Filed: 08/20/2025 Page: 11
Barker factor, i.e., the reason for the delay); id. at 853 (“choos[ing] to treat COVID-
19 as a truly neutral justification” for purposes of the Sixth Amendment right to a
speedy trial). Further, Mr. Flynn made no serious attempt, until he filed his pro se
motion to dismiss nearly five years into the litigation, to raise any concerns about his
speedy trial rights. See id. at 853 (noting “we assess whether the defendant actively
asserted his right, which requires more than merely moving to dismiss after the delay
has already occurred”) (internal quotation marks omitted). Lastly, we conclude,
given the overwhelming evidence against him, that Mr. Flynn was not prejudiced by
the delay. Although he asserts he was prejudiced by the absence of Ms. Martinez as
a witness, he fails to convincingly explain how Ms. Martinez’s testimony could have
benefitted him. At the same time, he all but ignores the fact that the head of the drug
conspiracy, Mr. Perez-Tapia testified at trial and directly implicated him as a
coconspirator.
C
Mr. Flynn also argues that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to
support his conviction for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking
crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A). Because Mr. Flynn did not raise this
argument in the district court, we review it only for plain error. See United States v.
Williams, 934 F.3d 1122, 1127 (10th Cir. 2019). “Plain error occurs when there is
(1) error, (2) that is plain, which (3) affects substantial rights, and which (4) seriously
affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings.” Id.
(internal quotation marks omitted). “But as a practical matter,” plain error review in
11 Appellate Case: 22-4124 Document: 148-1 Date Filed: 08/20/2025 Page: 12
this context is similar to de novo review “because insufficiency of the evidence
generally meets the plain error test.” Id. Accordingly, we “view[] the evidence in
the light most favorable to the Government” and determine whether “any rational
trier of fact could have found the defendant guilty of the crime beyond a reasonable
doubt.” United States v. Dermen, 143 F.4th 1148, 1215 (10th Cir. 2025) (internal
quotation marks and brackets omitted).
To convict Mr. Flynn under § 924(c)(1)(A), the government was required to
prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Flynn: (1) committed a drug trafficking
crime; (2) possessed a firearm; and (3) possessed the firearm in furtherance of the
drug trafficking crime. See United States v. Lowe, 117 F.4th 1253, 1267
(10th Cir. 2024).
Mr. Flynn does not dispute the first two of these elements, i.e., that he
committed the offense of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and that he
possessed a Cobra Enterprise .380 firearm. Instead, he argues that “the government
failed to meet its burden of proof to show [he] possessed a Cobra Enterprise .380 in
furtherance of a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.” Aplt. Br. at 40.
“To meet the ‘in furtherance element,’ the government needed to prove beyond
a reasonable doubt that the weapon furthered, promoted or advanced” the conspiracy
offense. Lowe, 117 F.4th at 1267–68. “This require[d] that the government establish
some nexus between the firearm[] and the underlying drug trafficking crime.” Id. at
1268 (internal quotation marks omitted).
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After examining the record on appeal, we conclude the government’s evidence
at trial satisfied this standard. To begin with, the government’s evidence indicated
that when Mr. Perez-Tapia and Mr. Flynn began working together, Mr. Flynn was
exclusively purchasing and distributing methamphetamine he received from
Mr. Perez-Tapia. The government’s evidence further indicated that Mr. Flynn
continued to distribute predominantly methamphetamine during the entire time he
worked with Mr. Perez-Tapia. In addition, the evidence indicated that after
Mr. Perez-Tapia became familiar with Mr. Flynn, he began “front[ing]” drugs to him,
meaning that Mr. Flynn would “borrow the drugs,” incur a debt to Mr. Perez-Tapia,
and then repay him later for that debt. R. vol. IV at 320. During his testimony,
Mr. Perez-Tapia acknowledged “there were times when [Mr.] Flynn could not pay his
debt for the narcotics purchases so he began offering items such as . . . firearms.” Id.
at 403. Mr. Perez-Tapia in turn acknowledged that “all the firearm prices were
credited against the debt that [Mr.] Flynn had acquired from purchasing the
methamphetamine[] and heroin.” Id. at 404. Mr. Flynn testified that one of the
firearms he received from Mr. Flynn under this arrangement was the Cobra
Enterprise .380 firearm. That firearm was ultimately seized from Mr. Perez-Tapia’s
apartment as part of the search that occurred while he was in Arizona. We conclude
this evidence, taken together, would have allowed the jury to reasonably infer that
Mr. Flynn’s possession and delivery of the Cobra firearm to Mr. Perez-Tapia was
intended to further, promote, or advance the conspiracy to distribute
methamphetamine. More specifically, by using the Cobra firearm to pay off part of
13 Appellate Case: 22-4124 Document: 148-1 Date Filed: 08/20/2025 Page: 14
his drug debt to Mr. Perez-Tapia, Mr. Flynn ensured that the arrangement would
continue and that he could continue to purchase and distribute methamphetamine
from Mr. Perez-Tapia.
For these reasons, we reject Mr. Flynn’s challenge to the sufficiency of the
evidence supporting his § 924(c)(1)(A) conviction.
IV
The judgment of the district court is affirmed.
Entered for the Court
Bobby R. Baldock Circuit Judge