Aaron “Black” Clark, 36, pleaded guilty today to a conspiracy distribute heroin, the U.S. attorney’s office announced.
Clark was indicted May 5 along with 32 others in a 67-count indictment about heroin and cocaine conspiracies headed by Clark. The indictments followed a two-year investigation that began with a North Little Rock police probe of gangs, including the “Self Made Gangsters” street gang. That led them to a Little Rock supplier.
Police made undercover purchases of heroin from Clark and used wiretaps and other sources to determine Clark was purchasing drugs from a Texas supplier, the news release said.
Agents searched Clark’s home last November and seized $100,000 in cash and jewelry, 178 grams of heroin, a marijuana growing operation and six firearms. Another search in May led to the seizure of $55,000, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and almost four pounds of methamphetamine or ice.
During the investigation, officers additionally seized more than four pounds of cocaine, two pounds of heroin, five pounds of meth, a pound of crack cocaine and eight ounces of fentanyl, along with 25 guns and $241,000 in drug proceeds.
Clark will be sentenced later. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.
Also, the U.S. attorney said one person pleaded guilty today to diverting prescription drugs from the VA medical center to street sales. Nikita Neal, 43, of Little Rock, a former student trainee at the VA, pleaded to conspiring to steal and distribute oxycodone Two other pharmacy technicians had pleaded guilty in August.
The original charge said the three conspired to obtain oxycodone, hydrocodone, Viagra, Cialis, and promethazine syrup with codeine and then diverted them to street distribution. The VA discovered the scheme when it noted unaccounted-for medications charged to VA accounts. The news release said 7,300 hydrocodone and oxycodone pills, 308 ounces of codeine syrup and 14,000 Viagra and Cialis pills were diverted at a cost to the VA of more than $77,000. On the street, the drugs were worth more than $160,000. All three will be sentenced later