JACKSONVILLE – U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced Shawntae Jamell Clark, 44,  of Atlanta, pleaded guilty to possessing with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.

Clark faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years – and up to life – in federal prison on the drug charge and up to 15 years’ imprisonment on the firearm charge. He also agreed to forfeit two firearms, ammunition and cash traceable to his offenses.

Clark was arrested on July 6, 2022, at the Stay Suites on Wells Road in Orange Park and ordered detained. His sentencing will be on Nov. 7.

According to court documents, deputies from the Clay County Sheriff’s Office were investigating Clark based on reports that he was selling drugs, including methamphetamine, out of his hotel room. On July 2, 2021, deputies observed Clark leaving his hotel room with a backpack and getting into a car. During a subsequent traffic stop of the vehicle, a CCSO K-9 alerted deputies to the car, indicating that it contained illegal narcotics. A subsequent search of the vehicle revealed a small safe containing a loaded Beretta pistol and Taurus revolver, seven baggies of methamphetamine, and approximately 100 small baggies. Further investigation determined that the total weight of the methamphetamine was approximately 159 grams and Clark had multiple prior felony convictions for armed robbery, attempted lewd or lascivious act – sexual battery, and multiple convictions for possession of cocaine. As such, federal law prohibited him from possessing a firearm or ammunition.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Clay County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin C. Frein is prosecuting it. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mai Tran is handling the forfeiture.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence and make our neighborhoods safer.

On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.