Earnest Moore, Robert Black Plead Guilty to Heroin Crimes

Two men are headed for federal prison after pleading guilty to heroin distribution charges in separate cases that laid bare the drug pipeline feeding into West Virginia’s hardest-hit communities. Earnest Moore, 40, of Ohio, admitted to running a heroin conspiracy that funneled drugs from Detroit and Columbus into Mason County’s Point Pleasant area, while Robert Douglas Black, 52, of Huntington, sold directly to a confidential informant before cops raided his home with evidence of ongoing trafficking.

Moore confessed to conspiring with associates from early 2013 until his arrest on July 23, 2014, orchestrating a network that stored and distributed heroin out of a Gallipolis, Ohio, residence. The operation relied on couriers moving bulk quantities across state lines, with deals going down both in Gallipolis and at various locations in Point Pleasant. Moore personally participated in these transactions, using local residences as makeshift distribution hubs.

Black’s case unfolded more directly—on May 4, 2016, he sold heroin to a law enforcement informant at his 5th Avenue West home in Huntington. Less than three weeks later, on May 25, 2016, a search warrant executed at the same residence turned up over $2,000 in cash, digital scales, and additional heroin. Black admitted the drugs were meant for sale, sealing his fate with a guilty plea to distribution charges.

Both men now face up to 20 years in federal prison when sentenced on May 30, 2017. The investigations were handled by joint task forces operating under the Drug Enforcement Administration. Moore’s network was dismantled by the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department and the Gallia-Meigs County Major Crimes Task Force, while Black’s operation was cracked by the Cabell County Sheriff’s Department.

Assistant United States Attorney Joseph F. Adams is prosecuting both cases, which were presented before Chief U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers. The prosecutions are part of a broader crackdown by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia, which has made dismantling heroin and prescription pill trafficking a top priority across the region.

The Southern District continues to wage war on open-air drug markets and interstate supply chains, deploying federal, state, and local agencies in coordinated takedowns. With overdose deaths soaring, cases like Moore’s and Black’s underscore the relentless grip of the opioid crisis—and the law enforcement machinery grinding to break it.