Delrone Moore, Heroin Distribution, LA 2024

Delrone Moore, 39, of New Orleans, is going to prison for peddling poison on the streets of Jefferson Parish. Moore was sentenced to 45 months in federal prison after admitting to two counts of distributing heroin in back-to-back deals that were caught on camera by undercover law enforcement.

U.S. District Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown handed down the sentence, which will be followed by three years of supervised release. Moore’s guilty plea cut short a potential longer stretch behind bars, but federal prosecutors made clear that his actions fueled a deadly epidemic ravaging communities across southeastern Louisiana.

Court documents lay bare the mechanics of Moore’s street-level operation. In the fall of 2015, a Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office detective posed as a buyer, setting up two controlled drug buys in Kenner. The first, on October 14, 2015, netted approximately half an ounce of heroin pulled from Moore’s pocket and exchanged in the front seat of an unmarked police vehicle.

Just under a month later, on November 12, 2015, Moore returned to the same spot—this time handing over a full ounce of the opioid in another hand-to-hand transfer. Every second of both transactions was recorded by the undercover unit’s audio and video surveillance system, building an airtight case that left Moore with no room to maneuver at trial.

“This isn’t just paperwork—it’s proof,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite, who oversaw the prosecution. “These recordings show exactly how easily heroin flows in our neighborhoods when people like Moore choose profit over public safety.” Polite credited the relentless work of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office for dismantling the supply chain.

Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas D. Moses prosecuted the case, emphasizing that federal sentencing sends a message: those who distribute hard drugs will face hard time. Moore is currently in federal custody, beginning the 45-month sentence that marks the end of his run on the streets.