CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051
BUFFALO, N.Y.- Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that a federal grand jury returned a two count indictment charging Eli Clark, 25, of Buffalo, NY, with possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine and maintaining a drug-involved premises. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $5,000,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Higgins, who is handling the case, stated that according to the indictment and a previously filed complaint, during the early hours of October 21, 2016, a search warrant was executed at the defendant’s house on Crowley Avenue in Buffalo. Police recovered approximately 250 grams of crack cocaine inside Clark’s kitchen.
Clark was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder, Jr. and is detained pending further proceedings on March 10, 2017, at 2:00 p.m.
The indictment is the result of an investigation by the Niagara County Drug Task Force, under the direction of Sheriff James Voutour; the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division; the Erie County Sheriff’s Department, under the direction of Timothy Howard; and the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.