Turner man gets probation for having ammo

PORTLAND — A Turner man police found passed out in his car parked in a Lewiston garage said Tuesday that his arrest was a blessing.

“I’m kind of glad that it happened,” 49-year-old Clifford Clark told U.S. District Court Chief Judge Jon D. Levy.

“I’ve come a long ways,” he said, and “wasted a lot of time … and missed out on a lot of things doing drugs.”

Dispatchers on July 7, 2022, had been alerted to an unknown man found asleep in a vehicle in the garage of the caller’s Lewiston home.

Local police searched Clark’s vehicle and found 10 loose 9 mm bullets in the pocket on the back of the front passenger seat and 38 rounds of 7.62-caliber ammunition in the trunk.

During a search of Clark’s home, officers found 16 rounds of .45-caliber ammunition and five rounds of .38-caliber ammunition.

He later told investigators the bullets belonged to a former roommate.

Clark’s attorney, Robert A. Levine, painted a portrait of his client as emerging from a traumatic childhood with serious drug and alcohol addictions.

Clark had pleaded guilty in May 2023 to a federal felony of possession of ammunition by a prohibited person.

The crime is punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, plus up to three years of supervised release.

Clark was convicted in 2011 on a felony theft charge in Aroostook County and in 2015, in Knox County, on a charge of operating after habitual offender revocation, which prohibited him from having firearms and ammunition.

Judge Levy sentenced Clark on Tuesday to five years of probation, calling his decision “extremely difficult” to make considering Clark’s lifetime of crime, including drug dealing.

But Levy said he considered Clark’s childhood, saying it was “quite shocking what you experienced as a boy.”

According to Levine, Clark’s absent father had been an alcoholic and addicted to drugs.

Clark’s mother died when he was 12; he was raised by his sister, who was three years older.

He managed to graduate from high school but, after witnessing a friend suffer a fatal accident on a debarking machine at a forest products company, Clark blamed himself and fell heavily into drug use, Levine said.

Clark was in and out of prison for theft and other nonviolent crimes.

In 2018, after losing his job as a roofer, he began using and selling drugs, including cocaine and crystal methamphetamine and began injecting heroin.

Since his arrest, he has excelled in recovery, according to his supervisor.

“The same circumstances that resulted in the defendant’s arrest ultimately engineered his recovery. Armed with the blessing of sobriety, thanks to these charges, the defendant has become a contributing member of society,” Levine said.

He was admitted to a drug addiction recovery program in Bangor in July, where he “has far exceeded expectations,” graduating in November, Levine wrote in court papers.

Before his graduation, Clark secured a sponsor, a recovery coach, a counselor, and two jobs in the community where he works more than 50 hours per week and attends nine Alcoholics Anonymous meetings per week, Levine said.

“He is well on his way to successful long-term recovery, as a productive member of the community,” Levine said.

During his probation, Clark will be prohibited from having controlled substances, alcohol or any other intoxicant and must participate in a program of drug and alcohol abuse therapy and testing that is approved by his probation officer.

Clark may not have an firearms or other dangerous weapons or be with anyone whom he knows has any such weapons.

He may be searched and his belongings may be searched if he’s suspected of violating conditions of his probation.

Clark must complete 100 hours of community service.

Levy said Tuesday that the sentence he imposed on Clark was “really unusual,” given the risk Clark would pose to the community if he were to lapse into his previous criminal conduct.

“You have great responsibility now moving forward to be a role model to the community,” Levy said.