⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

A Kansas jury convicted Javier Gonzalez of a methamphetamine conspiracy and three related drug counts. Undercover buys involved Steven Crawford; Gabriel Venegas testified that he supplied Gonzalez with methamphetamine on credit. A proffer is an interview in which a potential cooperator gives prosecutors information under agreed terms. Gonzalez disputes how much other evidence tied him to the sales, and the district judge denied his request for acquittal. He will argue prosecutors improperly vouched for Venegas's honesty; because he did not object at trial, that claim faces plain-error review. He also challenges a Pinkerton instruction that lets jurors hold one conspirator responsible for another's foreseeable crimes committed to advance their shared plan, arguing it does not fit Section 846, which requires no overt act—a concrete step to advance a conspiracy.

United States v. Gonzalez (No. 25-3163) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, argued September 16, 2026.