FORMER STATE JUDICIAL MARSHAL PLEADS GUILTY TO FEDERAL DRUG OFFENSE

Former state judicial marshal Adam Clarke waived indictment and pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport to selling heroin.

Clarke, 37, of Norwich was intercepted multiple times in October 2017 on a court-authorized wiretap discussing the distribution of heroin and prescription narcotics, according to the office of U.S. Attorney John H. Durham. Clarke was working as a state judicial marshal at the Norwich courthouse at the time.

He was escorted from his post in December 2017 by state and federal authorities, who charged him in state court with possessing and selling drugs that were delivered to his unlocked car in the parking lot adjacent to the courthouse. That case is still pending in New London Superior Court.

The federal charge stems from a long-term investigation into the distribution of drugs in the Norwich and New London area.

According to the government, the investigation revealed that Clarke received prescription pills from a known drug dealer while he was at work, assisted the drug dealer in avoiding detection by law enforcement by identifying law enforcement actions and vehicles, and agreed to broker at least one heroin transaction between the drug dealer and a third party.

Clarke is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport on Jan. 17, 2019, at which time he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years for conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, heroin.

Clarke is released pending sentencing. He is no longer employed as a state judicial marshal.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Norwich, Waterford and Groton Town police departments and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David C. Nelson.