Saline County Man Sentenced to 16 Years in Prison for Methamphetamine-Related Offense

John David Clark, 48, of Harrisburg, Illinois, was sentenced today in United States District Court in Benton to 192 months in federal prison for possessing pseudoephedrine with the intent that it be used to manufacture methamphetamine, announced Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois. Clark was charged by a federal grand jury in July 2013 with possessing the pseudoephedrine on June 25, 2013, in Saline County. He pled guilty to that offense on October 11.

“Methamphetamine is a killer. It kills peoples’ abilities to function, and it robs them of their future. Hopefully, sentences like these will act to deter not only those who make meth but those who would distribute such poisons in our communities,” said United States Attorney Wigginton.

Evidence supporting the guilty plea and sentence showed that Clark was involved for over a two-year period with several other individuals in the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine in and around Harrisburg. His possession of pseudoephedrine on that date, a necessary ingredient in the manufacturing process, was in furtherance of that overall scheme.

In addition to the 16-year term of imprisonment, Clark was ordered to pay fines and special assessments to the United States totaling $200 and was placed on a three-year term of supervised release to follow his incarceration. Under federal law, parole has been abolished, meaning that Clark will be required to serve a minimum of 85 percent of his prison sentence.

Clark has been held without bond in the custody of the United States Marshals Service since his arrest on the federal charges. He was returned to the Marshals’ custody to await designation to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility. The case was investigated by the Carmi Office of the Southern Illinois Drug Task Force and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James M. Cutchin.