ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Jessie Alan Clark, 42, of Burke County, was sentenced today to 235
months in prison followed by five years of supervised release on drug and gun charges,
announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field Division of the Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA), which oversees the Charlotte District Office, and Sheriff
Banks Hinceman of the Burke County Sheriff’s Office join U.S. Attorney King in making
today’s announcement.
According to filed court documents and court proceedings, in February 2022, investigators with
the Burke County Sheriff’s Office and agents with the DEA determined that Clark was engaged
in the distribution of methamphetamine in the area. On February 15, 2022, law enforcement
observed a truck attempting to evade detection by law enforcement and began to follow the
vehicle. While they followed the vehicle, law enforcement observed a backpack being tossed out
of the passenger side of the truck and proceeded to pull over the vehicle. Clark was the driver of
the truck, and another individual was a passenger. Over the course of the traffic stop, law
enforcement searched Clark, the passenger, the truck, and the backpack that had been tossed
from the vehicle, and seized $10,499 in U.S. currency, two gallon-sized bags containing
methamphetamine, and a loaded Taurus .38 caliber revolver with six rounds of ammunition.
Clark is a convicted felon, and he is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.
On August 21, 2023, Clark pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to
distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and
possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Clark will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending transportation to a
designated U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility, to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.
In making today’s announcement U.S. Attorney King thanked the DEA and the Burke County
Sheriff’s Office for their investigation of the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Hess of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville prosecuted
the case.
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