A 53-year-old Mooresboro man has been sentenced to 22.5 years in federal prison after admitting he trafficked methamphetamine and firearms across Rutherford and Cleveland counties, including selling an undercover agent nearly a kilogram of pure meth and a dozen guns over just three months. Ronald Keith Goode was sentenced in federal court in Asheville, with U.S. District Judge handing down a 270-month term followed by five years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson for the Western District of North Carolina announced the sentence on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Court records cited by the Justice Department show that between March and May 2025, an undercover agent met with Goode multiple times at his Mooresboro residence, ultimately purchasing approximately 998.01 grams of pure methamphetamine and 12 firearms from him. During that same window, the agent reportedly observed four pound-sized bags containing roughly two kilograms of methamphetamine inside Goode's home, as reported by Queen City News.
Investigators say Goode went beyond small-time dealing — he told the undercover agent he could receive shipments of up to 10 kilograms of methamphetamine at a time from his primary supplier, according to the Justice Department. Court documents indicate Goode was transporting large quantities of meth from the Atlanta area into Rutherford and Cleveland counties, a route federal officials describe as a key conduit feeding methamphetamine into rural Western North Carolina.
Guns, Ammo and a Ballistic Vest Found in a Shed
Rutherford and Cleveland county law enforcement officials identified Goode as a methamphetamine and gun trafficker as early as February 2025, per court documents referenced by the Justice Department. Investigators and deputies arrested Goode on July 2, 2025, and searched his Mooresboro property the same day, according to court records cited by Queen City News.
Inside a shed on the property, agents recovered a loaded Glock 27 .40-caliber pistol with 26 rounds of ammunition, a loaded Marlin Model 60W .22 LR rifle with five rounds, and an unloaded Masterpiece Arms Defender 9mm pistol, the station's report states. They also found two magazines and 93 rounds of additional ammunition, a ballistic vest, a digital scale, and a small amount of white powder in the same shed. At Goode's residence, agents seized two more loaded pistol magazines with three rounds of ammunition and a large digital scale.
Prior Conviction Barred Him From Owning Firearms
Goode had a prior conviction for trafficking methamphetamine in South Carolina, which legally barred him from possessing firearms or ammunition under federal law. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), it is a federal crime for anyone with a prior felony conviction to possess guns or ammunition that have traveled in interstate commerce, according to the Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall.
In October 2025, Goode pleaded guilty to distribution of methamphetamine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and possession of a firearm by a felon. The length of his sentence stems directly from one of those counts: under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime carries a mandatory minimum of five years that must run consecutively — not concurrently — with any sentence for the underlying drug offense, according to Justia. That statutory requirement is part of why Goode's combined drug and gun convictions added up to more than two decades behind bars.
Part of a Broader Crackdown in the Region
Goode's case is far from an isolated one in Western North Carolina's fight against methamphetamine trafficking tied to Atlanta-area supply routes. The Cleveland County Sheriff's Office seized 138 pounds of crystal methamphetamine valued at roughly $3 million during a December 2025 traffic stop on U.S. Highway 74 in Kings Mountain — a highway that connects Atlanta supply lines directly to Western North Carolina counties.
That same month, a regional multi-agency effort dubbed Operation Ice-Breaker led to the seizure of approximately 44 kilograms of methamphetamine across Cleveland and Gaston counties, as Hoodline previously reported. Cleveland and Rutherford county authorities also carried out a joint interdiction in May 2026 that recovered more than two kilograms of fentanyl following a high-speed vehicle pursuit, underscoring the sustained cooperation between the two counties involved in Goode's prosecution.
Federal prosecutors in Asheville have handed down several comparable sentences this year. On the same day Goode was sentenced, U.S. Attorney Ferguson announced a 10-year sentence for 24-year-old Nazae Dion Maewether for distributing methamphetamine and fentanyl while possessing a firearm. In July, federal prosecutors in Charlotte secured a 151-month sentence for 54-year-old Terry Detroit Page after CMPD and ATF agents recovered methamphetamine, fentanyl, and firearms during searches tied to his case, according to the City of Charlotte.
Nationally, the sentence reflects a well-established pattern. The United States Sentencing Commission found that 2,384 federal cases in Fiscal Year 2025 involved convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), with 100 percent of those convicted receiving prison time averaging 149 months overall — a reminder that firearms enhancements remain one of the most powerful tools federal prosecutors use against armed drug traffickers.
