United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

____________ FILED September 26, 2023 No. 22-20337 Lyle W. Cayce ____________ Clerk

United States of America,

Plaintiff—Appellee,

versus

Clint Carr,

Defendant—Appellant. ______________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas USDC No. 4:18-CR-339-2 ______________________________

Before Duncan and Wilson, Circuit Judges, and Schroeder, District Judge. * Stuart Kyle Duncan, Circuit Judge: A jury convicted Clint Carr of numerous federal drug offenses related to his ownership and operation of a Texas pharmacy that was, in reality, an illegal pill mill. On appeal, Carr’s arguments for overturning his convictions largely concern four audio recordings that, after being vetted by a government filter team, were turned over to the prosecution. Carr contends

_____________________ * District Judge of the Eastern District of Texas, sitting by designation. Case: 22-20337 Document: 00516909260 Page: 2 Date Filed: 09/26/2023

No. 22-20337

that the recordings intruded into privileged conversations with his attorney and prejudiced his defense and that, as a result, his indictment should have been dismissed. Finding Carr’s arguments meritless, we affirm. I. Background A. Facts and Proceedings Clint Carr and his business partner, Dustin Curry, were co-owners of CC Pharmacy. They opened the original CC Pharmacy in Houston and later added “satellite” locations in Austin and Round Rock, Texas. In 2018, a Houston grand jury indicted Carr, Curry, and others for operating CC Pharmacy as a “pill mill.” Specifically, the indictment charged them with conspiring to unlawfully distribute controlled substances, unlawfully distributing and dispensing controlled substances (four counts), conspiring to launder monetary instruments, and engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity (two counts). See 21 U.S.C. § 846; 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C), and 18 U.S.C. § 2; 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h); 18 U.S.C. § 1957 and 18 U.S.C. § 2. Curry pled guilty of conspiring to unlawfully distribute controlled substances and cooperated with the government. Carr went to trial. In March 2022, Curry and CC Pharmacy employees testified in detail during a five-day trial about the pharmacy’s criminal operations and Carr’s involvement. The evidence showed the pharmacy was a voluminous and lucrative operation. From May 2016 to November 2017, it filled 18,327 fake prescriptions and dispensed 1,685,400 units of controlled substances including hydrocodone, oxycodone, Xanax, codeine cough syrup, and Soma. This generated at least $5.58 million in revenue. Carr’s basic defense at trial was that, while he “undoubtedly lied to drug suppliers, pharmacy inspectors, and employees,” nonetheless “it was not outside the realm of plausibility that [he] was