Erin Leigh Keeney, a 41-year-old resident of Huntington, West Virginia, pleaded guilty to distributing carfentanil. According to court documents and statements made during the hearing, Keeney sold approximately one gram of suspected fentanyl to a confidential informant in Huntington on March 24, 2025, for $100. As part of her plea agreement, she also admitted telling the informant about a gun for sale.
Keeney was indicted alongside Earl Michael “Mike” Myers, Joe Sidney Cross, and Maurice Kelly Johnson (also known as “Reese”) by a federal grand jury. The charges allege that they conspired to distribute fentanyl, cocaine base, and methamphetamine in the Huntington area from at least March through August 2025. The cases against Cross and Johnson are still pending.
The investigation also led to separate indictments against two other individuals. Donovan Dewayne Pauley, age 20 and also from Huntington, previously pleaded guilty on October 27, 2025 to possessing an unregistered short-barreled shotgun. Pauley is scheduled for sentencing on February 9, 2026.
An indictment is considered an allegation only; all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
Keeney will be sentenced on March 30, 2026. She faces up to twenty years in prison, at least three years of supervised release following any term of incarceration, and a possible fine up to $1 million.
United States Attorney Moore Capito announced the plea and recognized the investigative efforts of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Huntington Police Department and the Huntington Violent Crime and Drug Task Force.
United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the proceedings. Assistant United States Attorney Stephanie Taylor is prosecuting the case.
“This case is part of Operation Take Back America,” according to the press release. “a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.”
Further information about this case can be found by searching for Case No. 3:25-cr-161 on PACER or by visiting the website for U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia.
