A Clarksburg man has been sentenced to 40 months in federal prison for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy that transported large quantities of cocaine from California to Maryland. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis sentenced 56-year-old Norville Clarke to 40 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release after he pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. His co-defendant, 39-year-old Daniel Cruz of Los Angeles, is awaiting sentencing.
According to federal prosecutors, the investigation began in March 2023 after the Maryland State Police intercepted a package containing approximately two kilograms of cocaine that had been mailed from the Los Angeles area to Clarke’s auto repair shop in District Heights. Investigators linked Cruz to the shipment and later identified a freight container sent from California to the same business. Surveillance captured Cruz dropping off the shipment in California before traveling to Maryland, where he met with Clarke.
Authorities later obtained a search warrant for the freight shipment after a K-9 alerted to the presence of narcotics. Inside two automobile transmissions, investigators found 20 one-kilogram bricks of cocaine concealed in the oil pans. Laboratory testing confirmed the shipment contained more than 16 kilograms of cocaine.
Federal, state and local law enforcement officers then executed search warrants at Clarke’s auto repair shop, his Clarksburg home and Cruz’s hotel room in Capitol Heights. Investigators recovered an additional 502 grams of cocaine at the repair shop, two more kilogram-sized bricks of cocaine at Clarke’s residence, and more than $45,000 in cash. Prosecutors also identified nine previous freight shipments they say followed the same pattern, and the two men admitted responsibility for trafficking nearly 22 kilograms of cocaine as part of the conspiracy.
