United States v. Freddie Gladney, III

Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit·Decided August 28, 2026·No. 24-3333·Published

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit

No. 24-3333

United States of America

Plaintiff - Appellee

v.

Freddie Gladney, III, also known as Bankroll Freddie, also known as Dee Dee

Defendant - Appellant

Appeal from United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas - Central

Submitted: January 16, 2026 Filed: August 28, 2026

Before SHEPHERD, KELLY, and STRAS, Circuit Judges.

KELLY, Circuit Judge.

Freddie Gladney, III, was convicted after trial on multiple drug and firearm related counts and was acquitted of others. He appeals, challenging the district

court’s1 denial of his motion to dismiss the indictment, several evidentiary rulings at trial, and the procedural and substantive reasonableness of his sentence.

I.

From approximately April to June 2021, the FBI intercepted several thousand phone calls from two target phones. Some of the calls involved Gladney discussing the sale and purchase of marijuana and firearms with others.

On April 14, 2022, Gladney was pulled over for speeding. When the officer approached, he “immediately detected a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle.” The officer asked Gladney to get out of the truck. Gladney complied, but he then turned and climbed over the center console toward the passenger side and began reaching around. In response, the officer went to the driver’s side, climbed in, and with the help of an arriving officer, pulled Gladney out of the truck. Gladney was arrested and placed in the back seat of the officer’s patrol car. Officers searched the truck and found a Micro Draco pistol, a 9mm privately made firearm, 7 magazines, 21.4 pounds of marijuana, 171 grams of promethazine with codeine, and cash. The next day, the officer searched his patrol car, where he found a Glock switch under the back seat.

On April 18, 2022, Gladney was arrested on a federal criminal complaint, had an initial appearance, and was detained. On May 3, 2022, an indictment was filed charging Gladney with three counts related to the possession of firearms and marijuana. Gladney was arraigned on May 18, 2022, and released on conditions that same day.

On November 1, 2022, the government indicted Gladney and 34 co-

defendants in the instant case. Gladney was charged in ten of the counts and was

1 The Honorable James M. Moody, Jr., United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

arraigned on November 14, 2022. On November 9, 2022, the government moved to dismiss the May 3 indictment, stating that the events of April 14, 2022, which formed the basis of the charges in the May 3 indictment, were part of the drug conspiracy charged in the new multi-defendant indictment. The court granted the motion the next day.

Gladney went to trial, and the jury convicted him on the following: conspiracy to distribute or possess with intent to distribute less than 50 kilograms of marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B) (Count 1); possession with intent to distribute marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(D) (Count 15); possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A) and (c)(1)(B)(ii) (Count 16); and use of a communications facility in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 843(b) and 846 (Count 32). He was acquitted of the remaining counts, including Count 17, which charged him with possession of a machinegun, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(o) and 924(a)(2).

At sentencing, the district court imposed a 60-month term of imprisonment on Counts 1 and 15, and 48 months on Count 32 to run concurrently, and a 90-month term on Count 16 to run consecutively to all other sentences, for a total sentence of 150 months. Gladney appeals.

II.

Gladney argues the district court erred in denying his motion to dismiss the November 1 indictment based on violations of the Speedy Trial Act and the Sixth Amendment. “When a district court denies a motion to dismiss on Speedy Trial Act grounds, we review its legal conclusions de novo and its ultimate Speedy Trial Act ruling for an abuse of discretion. A district court’s finding that a continuance would best serve the ends of justice is a factual determination that we review for clear error.” United States v. Wilson, 122 F.4th 317, 323 (8th Cir. 2024) (citing United States v. Grady, 88 F.4th 1246, 1255 (8th Cir. 2023)). “Sixth Amendment challenges

are reviewed separately from the Speedy Trial Act. We review the district court’s findings of fact on whether a defendant’s right to a speedy trial was violated for clear error but review its legal conclusions de novo.” United States v. Hunt, 169 F.4th 766, 771 (8th Cir. 2026) (citations omitted).

First, Gladney contends that more than 30 days lapsed between the date of his arrest and the date the November 1 indictment was filed, in violation of the Speedy Trial Act. See 18 U.S.C. § 3161(b) (“Any information or indictment charging an individual with the commission of an offense shall be filed within thirty days from the date on which such individual was arrested or served with a summons in connection with such charges.”).

Gladney was initially arrested on April 18 on a criminal complaint. Fifteen days lapsed before the government filed the May 3 indictment. However, “when the government drops a complaint but then later brings a new complaint or indictment on the same charge, 2 the 30-day period runs from the second complaint or indictment.” United States v. Williams, 408 F.3d 1073, 1076 (8th Cir. 2005) (emphasis and citation omitted). Thus, the time between Gladney’s arrest and the dismissal of the complaint is not counted against the 30 days, “nor is the time between the dismissal [of the complaint] and the [May 3 indictment].” Id.

The May 3 indictment then remained pending until the government filed the November 1 indictment. See Williams, 408 F.3d at 1077 (“In our circuit, where the indictment is dismissed on the government’s motion, the time limitation is merely tolled during the period when no indictment is outstanding. Thus, the time between the arrest and the first indictment, as well as the time between the dismissal and the subsequent indictment or complaint, are counted for speedy trial purposes.”) (citation modified). Because the May 3 indictment was dismissed only after the November 1 indictment was filed, no additional time ran on the 30-day clock. See

2 The criminal complaint alleged one violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). This allegation was carried over as Count 16 in the May 3 indictment, which also included two drug charges.

id. The district court did not err in finding no violation of Gladney’s statutory right to a timely indictment.

Under the Speedy Trial Act, a defendant also must be brought to trial within 70 days of his indictment or first appearance, whichever is later, with certain periods deemed excludable under 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h). Zedner v. United States, 547 U.S. 489, 497 (2006); 18 U.S.C. § 3161(c)(1). Gladney next asserts that more than 70 non-excludable days passed before his trial commenced on April 9, 2024.

Trial was initially set for December 19, 2022. But beginning on November 15, 2022, the day after Gladney’s arraignment, several of his co-defendants filed motions to continue the trial. On December 13, 2022, the district court granted the motions, finding the “ends of justice” warranted a continuance. See id. § 3161(h)(7)(A) (excluding from the Speedy Trial Act clock “[a]ny period of delay resulting from a continuance granted by any judge [] at the request of the defendant or his counsel [] if the judge granted such continuance on the basis of his findings that the ends of justice served by taking such action outweigh the best interest of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial”).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

United States v. Freddie Gladney, III, (8th Cir. 2026).

United States v. Freddie Gladney, III (United States v. Freddie Gladney, III) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Barker v. Wingo
407 U.S. 514 (Supreme Court, 1972)
Wisconsin v. Mitchell
508 U.S. 476 (Supreme Court, 1993)
Zedner v. United States
547 U.S. 489 (Supreme Court, 2006)
United States v. Sandoval-Sianuqui
632 F.3d 438 (Eighth Circuit, 2011)
United States v. Yarrington
634 F.3d 440 (Eighth Circuit, 2011)
United States v. Moore
639 F.3d 443 (Eighth Circuit, 2011)
United States v. Smith
665 F.3d 951 (Eighth Circuit, 2011)
United States v. Cecil Darrell Williams
408 F.3d 1073 (Eighth Circuit, 2005)
United States v. Rivera-Ordaz
554 F.3d 724 (Eighth Circuit, 2009)
United States v. Wallenfang
568 F.3d 649 (Eighth Circuit, 2009)
United States v. Chase Logan Guzman
926 F.3d 991 (Eighth Circuit, 2019)
United States v. Gabriel Ayres
929 F.3d 581 (Eighth Circuit, 2019)
United States v. Pedro Zambrano
971 F.3d 774 (Eighth Circuit, 2020)
United States v. Rene Johnson
990 F.3d 661 (Eighth Circuit, 2021)
United States v. Delwin Cooper
998 F.3d 806 (Eighth Circuit, 2021)
United States v. Kenneth Still
6 F.4th 812 (Eighth Circuit, 2021)
United States v. David Allen
43 F.4th 901 (Eighth Circuit, 2022)
United States v. Jonathan Rooney
63 F.4th 1160 (Eighth Circuit, 2023)
United States v. Anthony Jones, Jr.
71 F.4th 1083 (Eighth Circuit, 2023)
United States v. Robert Maloney
102 F.4th 904 (Eighth Circuit, 2024)