Fresno man accused of shipping 14 pounds of meth to Mississippi

A Fresno man is held for prosecution on charges alleging he's the leader of a drug-trafficking organization that has shipped at least 14 pounds of methamphetamine to Mississippi.

Michael Eugene Moore, 43, will be arraigned in federal court Monday on a four-count indictment involving ice, meth in its purest form.

Moore was on parole in California when he directed others to ship meth through mail-courier services such as Federal Express and United Parcel Services, Assistant U.S. Attorney Shundral Cole wrote in a court filing.

Moore was on parole from May 5, 2012, until May 5, 2015.

The conspiracy began sometime in 2013, Cole said.

The crimes occurred in Pascagoula and elsewhere, according to the indictment.

Several shipments of meth have been seized and several co-defendants have been arrested, Cole said. Four co-defendants with lesser roles have received prison terms of 14 to 20 years.

"These individuals, at Moore's direction, have shipped packages containing methanphetamine ICE as well as sending and receiving thousands of dollars through electronic money transfers and deposits made into individual banking accounts controlled by Moore," she said.

The drug-trafficking has continued since the arrest of Moore's "lieutenant" in April 2015, Cole said.

"Agents were able to position an undercover agent communicating directly with Moore resulting in the receipt of additional quantities of methamphetamine ICE. Moore has shown no signs of ending his illicit drug-trafficking activities."

Cole's federal indictment in the Southern District of Mississippi in Gulfport was filed Feb. 2. He was arrested in the Eastern District of California in Fresno in April. Prosecutors asked that Moore be detained, court records show. A magistrate judge in Fresno set a $25,000 property bond pending court hearings. Prosecutors then questioned the equity in the property used for Moore's bond.

The indictment charges Moore with four counts each punishable by up to 20 years.

In Cole's filing in May, she said Moore is a flight risk, and asked that the bond set in Fresno be revoked. U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden signed an order to request it. Federal marshals took Moore into custody in May.

The conspiracy charge covers a period of about three years, from 2013 through Feb. 2.

The drug distribution charges allege he and others attempted to possess with intent to distribute meth in Jackson County on March 17, 2015, and distributed meth in Jackson County the same year on March 24 and Sept. 15.

This story was originally published July 14, 2016 at 11:20 AM with the headline "Fresno man accused of shipping 14 pounds of meth to Mississippi."