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CHARLESTON — The U.S. District Court in Charleston recently sentenced two Parkersburg men to prison in separate cases.

Michael David Enoch, 33, of Parkersburg, was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on Dec. 15, law enforcement officers encountered Enoch on a Parkersburg street and informed him of an active warrant for his arrest. When Enoch reached for his waistband, officers stopped him and recovered a Taurus model PT111 G2 9mm semiautomatic pistol that had been concealed in his waistband.

Federal law prohibits a person with a prior felony conviction from possessing a firearm or ammunition. Enoch knew he was prohibited from possessing a firearm because of his prior felony convictions for wanton endangerment involving a firearm, escape and receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle in Wood County Circuit Court on Feb. 25, 2019.

Enoch has a criminal history that also includes multiple convictions for battery, domestic battery, fleeing from an officer, battery on a government representative and violation of a protective order.

Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia Lisa G. Johnston made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Parkersburg Police Department.

U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin imposed the sentence. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy B. Wolfe prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative aimed at combatting illegal immigration, eliminating cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protecting communities from the perpetrators of violent crime, a release from the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Justice Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhoods.

In a separate case, Ronald Robinson, 55, of Parkersburg, was sentenced to eight years and six months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for distribution of a quantity of methamphetamine and violating supervised release.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on Oct. 15, Robinson sold a quantity of a substance containing meth to an individual in Parkersburg. As part of his plea agreement, Robinson admitted to the transaction and selling a substance containing meth on two other occasions in October, each time in Parkersburg.

On Oct. 16, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at a motel room where Robinson was staying and seized approximately 40.307 grams of a substance containing meth and approximately 7.368 grams of a substance containing a mixture of meth and fentanyl. Officers also seized $501 including recorded currency from the controlled buys.

At the time of this offense, Robinson was serving terms of supervised release as a result of his convictions on July 12, 2004, for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine base, in the form known as crack, and on March 28, 2017, for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribute 100 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of heroin, both in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The new sentence includes four years in prison for committing a crime while on supervised release.

Johnston made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Parkersburg Violent Crime and Narcotics Task Force, the Police Department and the Wood County Sheriff’s Office.

Senior U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. imposed the sentence. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer D. Gordon and Francesca C. Rollo prosecuted the case.