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Press Release

“King of Death” Supplier Pleads Guilty to Heroin and Fentanyl Charges

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Virginia

NORFOLK, Va. – A New Jersey man pleaded guilty today to Conspiracy to Manufacture, Distribute, and Possess with Intent to Manufacture and Distribute Heroin, Fentanyl, and Furanyl Fentanyl resulting in death.

According to court documents, Rashad L. Clark, 38, of Elizabethport, New Jersey, supplied local ringleader, Erskine Dawson, Jr., with heroin and fentanyl from September to December 2016 while co-supplier, Kenneth Stuart, aka “Bones,” aka “Brutal,” was incarcerated on state charges. Clark concealed the narcotics in stuffed animals and trafficked them from New Jersey to Virginia where he would stay for days at a time to oversee Dawson’s operation, which was based out of a Studios 4 Less motel in Virginia Beach. Clark supplied Dawson with thousands of wax baggies containing heroin and fentanyl stamped with labels like “King of Death,” “Last Call,” “Mad Max,” “Bentley,” “No Evil,” “Black Dynamite,” “Superman,” “Tango Cash,” “Moneybag,” “Tower of Power,” and “Steph Curry.”

On Sept. 7, 2016, H.D. consumed fentanyl supplied by Dawson via Clark and suffered a fatal overdose. On Nov. 14, 2016, G.M. consumed heroin supplied by Dawson via Clark and suffered a fatal overdose. On Dec. 8, 2016, the DEA in partnership with officers from the Virginia Beach and Chesapeake police departments executed search warrants on motels in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and Norfolk, made arrests, and seized guns and over 1,800 wax baggies of heroin and fentanyl.  From September to December 2016 over $70,000 cash was deposited by members of this conspiracy into a Wells Fargo account controlled by Clark.

Six of the eight co-conspirators have now pleaded guilty and four have been sentenced. Co-defendants Kenneth Stuart and Carolyn Freeman are scheduled for trial Jan. 17, 2018.

Name, Age

Hometown

Guilty Plea

Sentence

Erskine Dawson, Jr., 33

Chesapeake

July 18

432 months (36 years)

Christopher Boone, 31

Chesapeake

August 17

186 months (15 ½ years)

Thomas Jennings, 33

Virginia Beach

June 9

180 months (15 years)

David Thomas, 33

Chesapeake

June 22

51 months

Frank Harris, 23

 

Chesapeake

September 19

January 11, 2018

Rashad Clark, 38

Elizabethport, New Jersey

December 7

April 2, 2018

 

Clark faces a mandatory minimum of 20 years and a maximum of life in prison when sentenced on April 2. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Mark R. Herring, Attorney General of Virginia, Karl C. Colder, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Field Division, James A. Cervera, Chief of Virginia Beach Police, and Kelvin L. Wright, Chief of Chesapeake Police, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson accepted the plea. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney John F. Butler and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew C. Bosse, Daniel T. Young, and William D. Muhr are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:17-cr-61 and 2:17-cr-92.

Contact

Joshua Stueve
Director of Communications
joshua.stueve@usdoj.gov

Updated December 7, 2017

Topic
Drug Trafficking