Greenbelt, Maryland – A Maryland man learned his fate in federal court, today, in connection with a drug-trafficking conspiracy. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis sentenced Norville Clarke, 56, of Clarksburg, Maryland, to 40 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Clarke’s co-conspirator, Daniel Cruz, 39, of Los Angeles, California, is still awaiting sentencing.
In March 2026, both men pled guilty to drug-trafficking charges in connection with the conspiracy. Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the sentence with Postal Inspector in Charge Damon E.
Wood of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) – Washington Division; Special Agent in Charge Christopher C. Goumenis, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) – Washington Division; Colonel Michael A. Jackson, Secretary of State Police, Maryland State Police (MSP); Chief Marc R.
Yamada, Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD); and Chief George Nader, Prince George’s County Police Department (PGPD).According to court documents, in 2023, multiple federal agencies partnered to investigate a drug-trafficking organization (DTO) transporting and distributing large quantities of cocaine from California to Maryland. The investigation began in March 2023, when MSP seized a parcel that contained approximately two kilograms of cocaine. The parcel was mailed from the Los Angeles area and was destined for Clarke’s auto-repair shop in District Heights, Maryland. Through investigating the source of the parcel, postal inspectors and other law enforcement investigators linked Cruz to the narcotics contained within the parcel.
In January 2024, postal inspectors and other investigators identified a freight-shipment container shipped from Los Angeles, destined for Clarke’s auto-repair shop in District Heights, Maryland. Law enforcement identified Cruz on surveillance footage dropping off the freight shipment at the shipping company in California. The authorities further observed Cruz traveling to Maryland to follow the shipment for delivery. Postal inspectors and other law enforcement investigators observed Cruz and Clarke meeting at Clarke’s auto-repair shop several days after the freight shipment was sent from California.
Investigators then located the freight shipment in Dulles, Viriginia, where a law enforcement K-9 officer scanned it. After the K-9 officer indicated the presence of narcotics in the shipment, law enforcement obtained a search warrant for the freight container. Then postal inspectors and law-enforcement investigators located two automobile transmissions inside. Law enforcement found 20, one-kilogram bricks secreted in the oil pans of both transmissions that laboratory forensic tests later confirmed were more than 16 kilograms of cocaine.
Postal inspectors, DEA agents, MSP officers and other members of law enforcement then executed search warrants at Clarke’s District Heights auto-repair shop, Clarke’s Clarksburg residence, and Cruz’s hotel room in Capitol Heights, Maryland. At the auto-repair shop, law enforcement located an additional 502.4 grams of cocaine and then found two-kilogram bricks of cocaine and $45,730 in U.S. Currency at Clarke’s residence. Investigators later identified an additional nine historical freight shipments that mirrored the original shipment that contained cocaine that Cruz sent to Clarke’s auto-repair shop utilizing the same freight shipping company.
In their plea agreements, Clarke and Cruz both agreed that they were involved in possessing almost 22 kilograms of cocaine in furtherance of this drug trafficking conspiracy. Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the Department of Justice’s nationwide initiative that brings federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement, prosecutors, and other public safety partners together to coordinate efforts to combat violent crime and make communities safe. Coordinated by U.S. Attorneys’ offices in each of the 94 federal districts, PSN is tailored to particular communities to strategically address specific violent crime and public safety challenges.
As a key component of Operation Take Back America, PSN serves a central role in the Department’s commitment to make our country safe. PSN emphasizes three core principles: rapid federal response to violent crime and criminal offenders; strong, strategic partnerships among law enforcement at all levels; and accountability and deterrence through the prosecution of the most serious, readily provable offenses and other strategies. These efforts complement and strengthen President Trump’s Homeland Security Task Forces, ensuring a comprehensive federal response to the most pressing public safety issues facing communities.U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the USPIS, DEA, MSP, MCPD, and PGPD for their work in the investigation.
Ms. Hayes also thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick Rigney and Michael Jaskiw who prosecuted this federal case.For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit justice.gov/usao-md.# # #