Robert Lee Sutter IV, Heroin Distribution, WV 2024

Robert Lee Sutter, IV, a 31-year-old from Keyser, West Virginia, is headed to federal prison after being sentenced to 10 months for distributing heroin across Mineral County. The long-running drug conspiracy, which stretched over nearly six years, ended in a guilty plea and a hard sentence handed down in Martinsburg federal court.

Sutter pleaded guilty in October 2017 to one count of ‘Conspiracy to Distribute Heroin,’ admitting he worked with others to push deadly doses of the opioid throughout the region. His illegal operation ran from November 2010 to September 2016, flooding rural communities with heroin at the peak of the national addiction crisis.

Authorities say Sutter wasn’t a kingpin, but he was a steady link in the supply chain—helping maintain a steady flow of heroin into homes, vehicles, and back-alley deals across Mineral County and beyond. Federal prosecutors painted a picture of a man who knowingly fed an epidemic, one bag at a time.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Omps-Botteicher, who emphasized the toll such drug operations take on small communities already ravaged by overdose deaths. ‘This isn’t just a crime on paper,’ she said. ‘It’s needles in playgrounds, funerals for teenagers, families torn apart.’

Investigation was led by the Potomac Highlands Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, whose undercover work and informant networks helped dismantle the network Sutter operated within. Agents spent months building the case, tracking movements, intercepting communications, and documenting transactions.

Chief U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided over the sentencing, handing down the 10-month term in a packed courtroom. Sutter offered no statement. The case reflects the federal government’s continued crackdown on mid-level distributors fueling the opioid crisis in Appalachia, where heroin and fentanyl have hit hard and recovery remains fragile.