[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

________________________ No. 17

- 15258 Non

- Argument Calendar

________________________ D.C. Docket No. 3:17

- cr - 00069

- RV

- 1

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff

- Appellee,

versus
JOSHUA RAY FOUNTAIN, Defendant

- Appellant.

________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida

________________________ ( Septemb er 7, 2018 ) Case: 17-15258 Date Filed: 09/07/2018 Page: 1 of 52 Before WILLIAM PRYOR , MARTIN and JILL PRYOR , Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Joshua Ray Fountain, who entered a conditional plea of guilty to possessin g five grams of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute , appeals the denial of his motion to suppress. 21 U.S.C

. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B)(viii). Fountain argues that officers lacked rea sonable suspicion or probable cause to stop his vehicle

. We affirm. We apply a mixed standard of review to the denial of a motion to suppress. We review legal rulings de novo and related findings of fact for clear error. United
States v. Lewis , 674 F.3d 1298, 1303 (11th Cir. 2012)

. We consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the prevailing party. Id. Traffic stops are seizures under the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Spoerke , 568 F. 3d 1236, 1248 (11th Cir. 2009). A traffic stop is const itutional if it is based on probable cause to believe that a traffic violation has occurred or is justified by reasonable suspicion that the person is engaged in a criminal activity. United States v. Harris , 526 F.3 d 1334, 1337 (11th Cir. 2008). The existe nce of probable cause or reasonable suspicion is viewed from the standpoint of an objectiv ely reasonable police officer. United States v. Chanthasouxat , 342 F.3d 1271, 1276 (11th Cir. 2003).

Case: 17-15258 Date Filed: 09/07/2018 Page: 2 of 53 Reasonable suspicion exists when an officer has a s p ecific and o bjective basis for suspecting a person of criminal activity, given the totality of the circumstances. Lewis , 674 F.3d at 1305. Reasonable suspicion may arise solely from a tip from a third party, so long as it bears sufficient indicia of reliability. Alaba ma v. White , 496 U.S. 325, 330 (1990). A tip has sufficient indicia of reliability when it contains a range of details, including future actions of third parties not easily predicted. Id. at 332. Further, a tip from a known informant is more reliable than a tip from an anonymous source and may alone be sufficient to justify an investigatory stop. Adams v. Williams , 407 U.S. 143, 146

- 47 (1972). That an informant has provided police with reliable t ips in the past also increases the informant’s reliability. See United States v. Kent , 691 F.2d 1376, 1379 (11th Cir. 1982). T he reliability of the tip also is increased “if the officer observes facts corroborating even the innocent details of the tip.” Un ited States v. Aldridge , 719 F.2d 368, 371 (11th Cir. 1983). The officers had reasonabl e susp icion to stop Fountain ’s vehicle based on a reliable informant ’s tip that Fountain was transporting methamphetamine. The informant had previously implicat ed perso ns known to traffic in drugs, assist ed in two controlled purchases of drugs, and provid ed information that resulted in the seizure of 30 ounces of methamphetamine

. See Kent , 691 F.2d at 1379. In addition, the informant had aid ed the Drug Enforcement Agency in arrest ing six persons

Case: 17-15258 Date Filed: 09/07/2018 Page: 3 of 54 who possess ed illegal substances. The informant described Fountain’s truck, provided his license plate number, and predicted the time of his departure, his
route , and his final destination

. See White , 4 96 U.S. at 330 , 332 . T he officers corroborate d the details of the informant’s tip by observing Fountain drive a truck that matched the informant’s description, by watching Fountain meet the informant at a prearranged location, by following the m along the route that the informant predicted, and by observing Fountain drive to the final location that the informant identified

. See Aldridge , 719 F.2d at 371. Although the informant was Fountain’s former girlfriend and had criminal charges pending against her, sh e had an incentive to provide accurate information to obtain a sentence reduction in exchange f or assist ing in Fountain’s arrest. See id. Under the totality of the circumstances, the informant’s tip was sufficiently reliable to provide reasonable suspicion for the officers to stop Fountain’s truck. See Lewis , 674 F.3d at 1304.
T he officers also had probable cause to stop Fountain’s vehicle. The officers observed Fountain commit at least two traffic violations when he swerve d rapidly and then crossed over the fog line and a solid double yellow line. See Fla. Stat. § § 316.089(1) , 316.089(4), 316.0875(2) ; see also Lomax v. State , 148 So. 3d 119, 121 (Fla. D ist. C t. A pp. 2014) (c rossing double

- yellow lines is a traffic violation )

. Because an “officer ’ s motive in making the traffic stop does not invalidate what is otherwise objectively justifiable beha vior under the Fourth Amendment, ” Harris ,

Case: 17-15258 Date Filed: 09/07/2018 Page: 4 of 55 526 F.3 d at 1337 (quoting United States v. Simmons , 172 F.3d 775, 778 (11th Cir.1999) ), i t matters not that the traffic violation was a pretext for the stop because officers saw Fountain violate at least two traffic law s. We AFFIRM Fountain’s conviction. Case: 17-15258 Date Filed: 09/07/2018 Page: 5 of 5