United States v. Jarrett Tarn

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• Decided: January 16, 2026
• Docket: 22-2479
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT No. 22-2479

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

v.

JARRETT MELVIN TARN, Appellant _____________________________ Appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judge Timothy J. Savage, No. 2:19-cr-00365

Before: KRAUSE, PHIPPS, and FISHER , Circuit Judges Submitted under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a) Dec. 11, 2025; Decided Jan. 16, 2026 _____________________________

NONPRECEDENTIAL OPINION*

KRAUSE, Circuit Judge.

In April 2022, Appellant Jarrett Melvin Tarn pleaded guilty to possession with intent

to distribute cocaine, 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C), possession with intent to distribute

oxycodone, id., possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, 18 U.S.C.

§ 924(c)(1), and possession of a firearm by a felon, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). The District

Court sentenced Tarn to a term of imprisonment of 108 months. Tarn now appeals his

conviction and sentence. Seeing no non-frivolous basis for appeal, Tarn’s counsel seeks

to withdraw under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967). We will grant counsel’s

Anders motion and affirm Tarn’s conviction and sentence.

* This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and, under I.O.P. 5.7, is not binding precedent. I. DISCUSSION1

A. Counsel’s Anders Brief is Facially Deficient.

Anders motions must “be accompanied by a brief referring to anything in the record

that might arguably support the appeal,” id. at 744, that “satisf[ies] the court that counsel

has thoroughly examined the record in search of appealable issues” and “explain[s] why

the issues are frivolous,” United States v. Youla, 241 F.3d 296, 300 (3d Cir. 2001). Where

counsel’s “Anders brief is insufficient” we may nonetheless grant counsel’s motion to

withdraw and affirm the conviction and sentence where the appeal is “patently frivolous.”

United States v. Coleman, 575 F.3d 316, 321 (3d Cir. 2009). But, in doing so, we must

conduct our own review to determine whether any non-frivolous issues exist, Youla, 241

F.3d at 300, and our review is not limited to the issues raised by the defendant or counsel,

see United States v. Langley, 52 F.4th 564, 569 (3d Cir. 2022).

Here, counsel’s Anders brief does not show that he “provided [Tarn] with a diligent

and thorough search of the record for any arguable claim that might support [Tarn’s]

appeal.” McCoy v. Ct. of Appeals of Wis., Dist. 1, 486 U.S. 429, 442 (1988). That brief

contains less than six pages of relevant argument; offers only conclusory discussion of

issues, such as whether a search was lawful, that by their nature require more detailed

analysis; and makes general references to portions of the record that span over one hundred

pages, like a citation to the entirety of Volume III of the Joint Appendix. Taken together,

these features do not give us confidence that counsel’s review was sufficient. See Anders,

1 The District Court had subject matter jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3231. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a).

2 386 U.S. at 744 (requiring counsel make “a conscientious examination” of the case); cf.

United States v. Calderon, 428 F.3d 928, 931 (10th Cir. 2005) (“In filing an Anders brief,

counsel is under ethical obligations to the client and to the court.”). Nonetheless, for the

reasons explained below, we ultimately agree that this appeal is frivolous.

B. This Appeal Does Not Raise Any Non-Frivolous Issues.

We proceed to consider the arguments raised in Tarn’s pro se brief, followed by

potential issues identified in our independent review of the record.2

For his part, Tarn argues that the District Court erred in denying his motion to

suppress, which we review “for clear error as to the underlying factual findings and

exercise plenary review over [the District Court’s] application of the law to those facts.”

United States v. Burnett, 773 F.3d 122, 130 (3d Cir. 2014).

A police officer may conduct an investigatory stop when she has reasonable

suspicion: A “particularized and objective basis for believing that the particular person is

suspected of criminal activity,” United States v. Brown, 159 F.3d 147, 149 (3d Cir. 1998),

meaning “a minimal level of objective justification” to make the stop, United States v.

Whitfield, 634 F.3d 741, 744 (3d Cir. 2010). That threshold was easily satisfied here: The

police received a description of a man who had threatened a child with a firearm; they

found Tarn, who generally matched witness descriptions, walking in the same area minutes

2 The Government suggests that, even if counsel’s Anders brief was insufficient, we may limit our review to the issues raised by Tarn in his pro se brief. We disagree. While in certain cases we have focused our review on the issues discussed in pro se briefs, those briefs were far more comprehensive and detailed than the pro se brief here. See United States v. Youla, 241 F.3d 296, 301 (3d Cir. 2001) (discussing twenty-six-page pro se brief, which was sufficiently detailed to serve as “an adequate Anders brief”).

3 later; and Tarn ran when approached by police and drew a weapon during the ensuing

chase. Though Tarn suggests that the police “should have noticed” that his skin tone did

not match the description, Pro Se Reply Br. 2, the officer had little opportunity to make

that assessment because Tarn ran “immediately,” App. Vol. I 226. Thus, there is no

question that the police had reasonable suspicion to stop and frisk Tarn, see Illinois v.

Wardlaw, 528 U.S. 119, 124 (2000), as well as probable cause to believe that he had been

unlawfully carrying a concealed weapon once officers saw Tarn draw his weapon, see 18

Pa. Cons. Stat. § 6106.3

Tarn also asserts, in what appears to be an as-applied challenge, that his convictions

under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1) violate the Second Amendment.4

But Tarn was on probation, and we have held that § 922(g)(1) is constitutional “as applied

to convicts on parole or probation.” United States v. Quailes, 126 F.4th 215, 224 (3d Cir.

2025), cert. denied, 2025 WL 2823870 (Oct. 6, 2025). And as for § 924(c)(1), it is hardly

“plain” that the Second Amendment protects the right to use firearms in furtherance of

otherwise illegal activities, like drug trafficking. Indeed, our sister circuits thus far have

all concluded otherwise. See, e.g., United States v. Risner, 129 F.4th 361, 368-69 (6th Cir.

2025) (holding that § 924(c)(1) does not facially violate the Second Amendment); United

States v. Ruiz, No. 23-10406, 2024 WL 1134725, at *1 (5th Cir. Mar. 15, 2024) (per

3 Because the police had reasonable suspicion to detain Tarn, we need not address his argument that he was unlawfully detained when he was shot with a taser during his flight and that all after-acquired evidence was fruit of the poisonous tree. 4 Tarn did not raise this argument below, so it is subject to plain error review. Fed. R. Crim. P. 52(b).

4 curiam) (rejecting, under plain error review, as-applied challenge to § 924(c)(1)). While

we do not have occasion to conclusively decide the issue, it is enough to say that the District

Court did not commit plain error by not ruling § 924(c)(1) unconstitutional.

From our own review, we have considered whether the District Court properly

advised and questioned Tarn when accepting his plea deal under Rule 11 of the Federal

Rules of Criminal Procedure. Unpreserved objections to a District Court’s failure to

comply with Rule 11 are reviewed for plain error. See United States v. Vonn, 535 U.S. 55,

59 (2002). But in this case, the District Court did not plainly err. Rather, it substantially

complied with Rule 11(b)(1) by informing Tarn (1) that his statement could be used against

him in a perjury action, App. Vol. III 33; (2) that he had the right not to plead guilty, and

that if he did not plead guilty he could go to trial where he would enjoy certain rights and

was entitled to counsel, id. at 39-42; (3) of the nature of the charges against him, id. at

43-47; (4) of the maximum and minimum penalties, id. at 36-37; (5) of the District Court’s

obligation to calculate a guidelines range for the offense, id. at 38-39; and (6) of the terms

of his appellate waiver, id. at 54-55. It also complied with Rule 11(b)(2) and 11(b)(3) by

assessing the voluntariness of the plea, id. at 36-37, 56-57, and recounting the plea’s factual

basis, id. at 43-54.5

5 We see no evidence that the District Court informed Tarn during the plea hearing that his plea necessitated forfeiture of his firearm or would result in a special assessment. Fed. R. Crim. Pro. 11(b)(1)(J), (L). But neither omission affected Tarn’s substantial rights, see United States v. Dominguez Benitez, 542 U.S. 74, 81 (2004), because there is no likelihood that Tarn would not have pleaded guilty had he been informed, see United States v. Corso, 549 F.3d 921, 929 (3d Cir. 2008). These consequences were clearly identified in the Plea Agreement. App. Vol. III 19, 21. The Government’s sentencing memorandum also

5 Nor did the District Court err in calculating Tarn’s sentence. “[A] district court

should begin all sentencing proceedings by correctly calculating the applicable Guidelines

range,” Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 49 (2007), but may then exercise its discretion

in deviating from that range, United States v. Arrelucea-Zamudio, 581 F.3d 142, 152 (3d

Cir. 2009). To start, Tarn’s drug and felon-in-possession convictions are grouped under

the Sentencing Guidelines.6 See U.S.S.G. § 3D1.2(c)-(d).7 Tarn’s § 922(g)(1) conviction

had a base offense level of 22, id. § 2K2.1(a)(3), which applies to the offense group because

it supplies the highest base offense, id. § 3D1.3(a). Tarn then received a two-level upward

adjustment for obstruction of justice by fleeing, id. § 3C1.2, and a two-level downward

adjustment for acceptance of responsibility, id. § 3E1.1(a), yielding a total offense level of

22. His criminal history score of 8, which included two additional points for committing

these offenses while on probation, id. § 4A1.1(d), put him in Criminal History Category

IV, id. Chapter 5, Part A. So, the District Court found, and the parties agreed, that Tarn’s

Guidelines range for the § 922(g) violation was 63 to 78 months, id.; App. Vol. III 98,

followed by a consecutive mandatory minimum 60-month sentence for his § 924(c)(1)

violation, U.S.S.G. § 2K2.4(b) & cmt. n.2(A); 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(i); App. Vol. III

identified these consequences, id. at 75, and Tarn did not seek to withdraw his plea at that time. 6 We note that at least one circuit would not group Tarn’s drug and felon-in-possession convictions. See United States v. Sinclair, 770 F.3d 1148, 1157-58 (7th Cir. 2014). But see United States v. Bell, 477 F.3d 607, 614-15 (8th Cir. 2007). But taking that approach here would only serve to lengthen Tarn’s sentence, see U.S.S.G. § 3D1.4, would not constitute prejudicial error, and thus would be a frivolous issue on appeal. 7 All references to the Sentencing Guidelines are to the 2018 Guidelines Manual, which was in effect at the time of the offense. Peugh v. United States, 569 U.S. 530, 549 (2013).

6 98, for a total range of 123 to 138 months, App. Vol. III 98. After considering the 18

U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors, the District Court sentenced Tarn to 108 months, which reflected

a substantial downward variance and was well within the Court’s discretion. See App. Vol.

III 140-44.

We have also considered other factors that the Anders brief should have addressed—

including the District Court’s compliance with Rule 32 of the Federal Rules of Criminal

Procedure, the adequacy of the District Court’s reasons for the sentence imposed, the term

of supervised release, and the fine range—and discern no non-frivolous issues.

II. CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons, we will grant counsel’s Anders motion and affirm Tarn’s

conviction and sentence.