Butler County man sentenced to more than 16 years in prison for narcotics conspiracy involving at least 11 kilograms of fentanyl & cocaine

CINCINNATI - A Butler County man was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 200 months in prison followed by 20 years of supervised release for conspiring to traffic at least 11 kilograms of narcotics.

In February 2024, Senior U.S. District Judge Michael R. Barrett found Eric Jason Clark, 42, of Fairfield, guilty of participating in a narcotics conspiracy. Judge Barrett announced the verdict following a bench trial.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Clark was dealing multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine and fentanyl in Cincinnati and had criminal contacts in the Los Angeles area.

In May 2021, The DEA received intelligence that Clark had expressed interest in purchasing 10 kilograms of cocaine from a source in Los Angeles for $33,000 per kilogram. Later that month, Clark met locally with a confidential source to arrange a drug transaction after being contacted by an undercover agent. Clark told the source he wanted to obtain a shipment of fentanyl, calling it "China."

During his arrest in August 2021, Clark had five kilograms of fentanyl and cocaine, more than $204,000 in cash and five cell phones in his car. At his stash house - a luxury apartment on Freedom Way in Cincinnati - agents found three more kilograms of fentanyl and three more kilograms of cocaine. At the residence in which Clark resided in Fairfield, agents discovered more than $15,000 in cash and two firearms.

Clark was on federal supervised release when he was arrested for the instant offense in August 2021. He was previously sentenced to 15 years in prison for attempting to possess with intent to distribute cocaine.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Orville O. Greene, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, Detroit Division; Ohio State Highway Patrol Superintendent Col. Charles A Jones; and Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa A. Theetge announced the sentence imposed today. Criminal Chief Christy L. Muncy and Assistant United States Attorney David P. Dornette are representing the United States in this case.

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