Clark pleaded guilty Aug. 31 to charges of money laundering, dealing in explosives without a license, and willfully filing a false federal income tax return.
Clark has owned and operated Clark’s Auto Sales in Middletown since 2004. He assisted several individuals in concealing their assets, which represented the proceeds of illegal drug sales, according to court documents.
Between 2007 and October 2010, Clark sold cars to individuals he knew as “dope boys,” a term to describe people engaged in the sale of illegal narcotics, said Carter M. Stewart, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.
Clark titled these cars in the names of individuals other than the drug dealers in order to help conceal ownership of the vehicles, and he placed false liens on the vehicles, in an effort to prevent law enforcement from seizing the property as proceeds of drug trafficking, according to court records.
Clark laundered the proceeds from the illegal auto sales by depositing cash, totaling between $120,000 and $200,000, into his bank account, according to court records.
He also admitted to selling illegal fireworks between June 2009 and June 2010 from his auto dealership, an activity which constitutes explosives dealing under federal law. Clark did not have a license to distribute, possess, or sell these explosive materials, according to court records.
Clark earned significant income between 2004 and 2009 from the sale of fireworks and explosive materials but failed to report some of that income on his federal tax returns. He admitted that he willfully failed to report at least $80,000 in income per year during each of these tax periods, according to court records.
Money laundering carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and a fine of $250,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transactions, whichever is greatest. Dealing explosives without a license also carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and $250,000 fine. Filing a false federal income tax return carries a maximum prison sentence of 3 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or gross loss resulting from the offense, whichever is greatest, and the cost of prosecution relating to this tax offense.
The investigation was done by agents from the IRS, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Warren County Drug Task Force.
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