Press Release
Contact:
Brian P. Lennon
ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY
PHONE: (616) 456-2406
BENTON HARBOR DRUG DEALERS CAUGHT
BY FBI VIOLENT CRIMES TASK FORCE SENT TO FEDERAL PEN
Friday, July 10, 2009 - Grand Rapids, Michigan – U.S. Attorney Donald A. Davis announced today the sentencings in several federal drug cases investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Violent Crimes Task Force in Berrien, County, Michigan.
On July 6, 2009, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Jonker sentenced Michael Clark, 32, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, to 97 months in prison. Judge Jonker also sentenced Lamarco Taylor, 26, to 20 months and Carlos Powell, 28, to 6 months in federal prison. Both Taylor and Powell are from Benton Harbor, Michigan. Clark and Powell have been in federal custody since their guilty pleas in February 2009. Taylor has been in custody since his arrest in Berrien County in October 2008. After each serves their respective terms of incarceration, all three men will serve a term of federal supervised release -- Clark for five years; Powell for three years; and Taylor for one year.
This investigation and prosecution stemmed from the successful federal prosecution of other Benton Harbor drug traffickers convicted and sentenced in 2008, including Demario Jones, Deric Balark, and six members and associates of the Bishop Boyz, a Benton Harbor street gang.
United States v. Michael Clark et al., W.D. Michigan Case No. 1:08-CR-212 [RJJ].
On September 11, 2008, a federal grand jury in Grand Rapids, Michigan, returned a
three-count Indictment against Michael Clark, Lamarco Taylor, Carlos Powell, and Quintel
Clark, 26, of Benton Harbor, Michigan. Count One of the Indictment charged all four men with
conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine base
(crack) and 100 grams or more of heroin. The Indictment alleged that the conspiracy began in
2005 and continued through August 25, 2008, in Berrien County, Michigan and elsewhere.
Because of the amount of crack cocaine charged in the Indictment, all faced a mandatory
minimum of 10 years in prison and maximum of life imprisonment, along with other penalties.
Count Two charged Michael Clark, Taylor and Powell with possession with intent to distribute
crack cocaine and heroin in Berrien County on August 10, 2008. This count stemmed from a
traffic stop by the Benton Charter Township Police Department, during which 13 packages of
crack cocaine and 24 bindles of heroin was found on Taylor's person. Michael Clark was the
driver of the vehicle and Powell, like Taylor, was a passenger. Count Three charged Powell
alone with possession with intent to distribute heroin in Berrien County on August 22, 2008.
That count resulted from a traffic stop by the Berrien County Sheriff's Department, during which
the 33 bindles of heroin were recovered.
Michael Clark pled guilty to the crack cocaine and heroin conspiracy charge on February
24, 2009. Powell pled guilty to Count Three on February 19, 2009; and Taylor waived
indictment and pled guilty on January 30, 2009, to a reduced charge of using a communications
facility (a telephone) in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. All three signed plea
agreements promising, among other things, to fully cooperate with law enforcement in its pursuit
of other drug traffickers. At their sentencing hearings on Monday, July 6th, both Clark and
Taylor received reduced sentences based on the substantial assistance they provided to law enforcement to date. On July 9, 2009, the United States moved to dismiss the drug conspiracy
charge against the remaining defendant, Quintel Clark.
United States v. Demario Jones, W.D. Michigan Case No. 1:08-CR-91 [PLM].
The successful investigation and prosecution of Demario Jones and others in 2008 helped lead to the convictions and sentencings of Michael Clark, Taylor and Powell earlier this week. In February 2008, detectives assigned to the FBI's Violent Crimes Task Force were working with a confidential source buying heroin from several Benton Harbor area street-level drug dealers, including Demario Jones, known to police as “Iceberg.” Based on information provided by informants, detectives focused on a Benton Harbor hotel used by Michael Clark, Jones, and others to sell controlled substances.
On February 22, 2008, a confidential informant purchased $50.00 of heroin from Jones at the hotel. Detectives then sought, obtained, and executed a State of Michigan search warrant that afternoon. Jones and others were present when police made entry into the hotel room where the heroin was purchased earlier that day. Jones was in the bathroom of the hotel room when detectives made entry. On Jones' person, detectives recovered $547.00 including $25.00 of the recorded U.S. currency used as "buy money" by the confidential source a few hours earlier. Several packages or "bindles" of suspected heroin and rocks of suspected cocaine base (crack) were found all over the room, including one bindle of heroin and one rock of cocaine on the floor by the toilet in the bathroom. In a night stand by the bed, police found 100 bindles of heroin, 28 rocks of crack cocaine, and a small amount of marijuana.
On April 2, 2008, a federal grand jury returned a three-count Indictment against Jones. Count One charged Jones with the distribution of heroin to the confidential informant on February 22, 2008. Counts Two and Three charged Jones with possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of crack cocaine (Count Two) and the heroin (Count Three), all of which was recovered by detectives from the hotel room during the execution of the state search warrant. Jones cooperated with law enforcement and signed a cooperation plea agreement. On July 17, 2008, he pled guilty to Counts One and Three of the Indictment. On November 17, 2008, Chief U.S. District Judge Paul L. Maloney sentenced Damario Jones to 130 months in federal prison on both counts, followed by three years of supervised release, with the sentences to run concurrently. Jones' sentence was reduced because of his substantial assistance to law enforcement before his sentencing.
United States v. Deric Balark et al., W.D. Michigan Case No. 1:07-CR-213 [PLM].
In the Fall of 2007, Deric Balark, 37, a kilogram-level cocaine supplier from Chicago, Illinois and Indianapolis, Indiana, and three members and associates of the Benton Harbor street gang, "the Bishop Boyz" -- Reginald Bland, 29, Anthony Lloyd, 37, and Larry Hooks, 31 -- were indicted and charged with a six-year drug conspiracy involving both powder and crack cocaine. On November 7, 2007, a First Superseding Indictment was returned by the grand jury. The new Indictment added three additional Benton Harbor defendants -- Tyrone Hitchcock, 34, Shawn Echols, 40, and Sandra Jones, 41. The new Indictment also expanded the dates of the conspiracy to include between an unknown date in 1995 and October 16, 2007, and it expanded the object of the conspiracy to include heroin and marijuana.
Most of the defendants entered negotiated guilty pleas. Two defendants -- Balark and Lloyd -- elected to proceed to trial. On May 2, 2008, following a two-week trial in federal court in Kalamazoo, Michigan, both Balark and Lloyd were convicted of the drug conspiracy charge. The jury found that Balark conspired with others to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute over five kilograms of powder cocaine and over 50 grams of crack cocaine. Lloyd, however, was only held responsible for the unspecified amount of marijuana alleged in the Indictment. Both were sentenced in late 2008 to the statutory maximum. Chief U.S. District Judge Paul L. Maloney sentenced Lloyd to 60 months in prison. He sentenced Balark to life imprisonment because of the drug types and quantities involved, and because of Belark’s two prior felony drug convictions. Balark’s case is currently on appeal. The other defendants, all of whom pled to federal drug-related charges, received the following federal prison sentences: Hitchcock -- 180 months; Bland -- 144 months; Echols -- 114 months; Hooks -- 100 months; and Sandra Jones -- 33 months.
The FBI's Violent Crimes Task Force is comprised of detectives from the Berrien County Sheriff's Department, the Benton Harbor and St. Joseph Police Departments, the Benton Charter Township Police Department, and the St. Joseph Township Police Department. The cases were prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Brian P. Lennon.
END
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