The Fourth Circuit affirmed a more than 15-year prison sentence for a man who pled guilty in West Virginia federal court to possessing 500 grams or more of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, rejecting his argument that he shouldn't have received sentencing enhancements due to late filings by the government.

In a unanimous opinion issued Monday, a three-judge panel found that Michael Henderson could not argue the government was late in its enhancement requests since the court had specifically asked for supplemental briefing concerning Henderson's sentence.

"After receiving the sentencing memoranda, the district court ordered supplemental briefing on whether Henderson qualified for 'safety valve' relief under 18 U.S.C. [Section] 3553(f)," the panel explained. Although the government had not asked for sentencing enhancements until this briefing request was made, the panel agreed with the district court that such a request was allowed.

"Because the court's request for supplemental briefing fairly implicated the relevant enhancements, the request constituted an implicit finding of good cause for the government's new arguments," U.S. Circuit Judge Albert Diaz wrote for the panel.

Although Henderson had asked for a below mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, he did not qualify for such relief under the safety valve provision because evidence showed that he led a drug trafficking operation, the court said.

"Because Henderson qualified for the leadership role enhancement, that meant he couldn't receive safety valve relief," Judge Diaz wrote.

Henderson was making coded calls in prison to his girlfriend, Bonnie Cagle, who was involved in his drug sales operation, the panel said. On the calls, he was instructing Cagle on what to do with drugs and firearms he possessed — calling the guns "puppies" as a code word, according to the panel.

Even though Henderson did not have a weapon with him when he was stopped as a passenger in a car and searched by a police K-9, leading to the discovery of 1,921.2 grams of pure crystal meth, the fact that he had the guns at home was enough to add an enhancement, according to the panel.

Circumstantial evidence showing constructive possession was all that was required to enhance Henderson's sentence for firearms violations, the panel said, noting that the government had proved that he was in control of the weapons via his calls to Cagle and her testimony that the guns were the "puppies" they discussed. One weapon was even recovered in the home the couple shared, the panel said.

Additionally, Henderson did not share information about his suppliers with the government, despite pleading guilty, according to the court. This was also required in order to access safety valve relief, the panel said.

The panel explained that when the district court requested supplemental briefing on the safety valve criteria, the parties were "on notice that they needed to address facts relevant to the firearm and leadership enhancements."

"If Henderson had concerns about how the report described the facts, he should have said so then," the panel said, adding that "because he didn't, Henderson forfeited any objections to the facts supporting the firearm enhancement."

The panel rejected Henderson's contention that if he had made his factual arguments about the sentencing enhancements the court might not have given him as high of a term, calling it speculative.

Representatives for the parties did not immediately respond to requests for comments on Tuesday.

U.S. Circuit Judges Albert Diaz, J. Harvie Wilkinson and James Andrew Wynn Jr. sat on the panel for the Fourth Circuit.

Henderson was represented by Jonathan D. Byrne and Wesley P. Page of the Office of the Charleston, West Virginia Federal Public Defender's Office.

The government was represented by Erik S. Goes, William S. Thompson and Monica D. Coleman of the Charleston, West Virginia U.S. Attorney's Office.

The case is United States v. Michael Henderson, case number 23-4313, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

--Editing by Marygrace Anderson.