A Portland man has been accused of selling cocaine, ecstasy, and ketamine to Cleveland High students. Jonathon Ash Clark (42) is facing federal charges. The Portland Police Bureau’s Narcotics and Organized Crime Unit worked with the Oregon-Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Interdiction Task Force and federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations on the arrest.
Clark has been charged by federal criminal complaint with possessing with intent to distribute a controlled substance, distributing a controlled substance to a person under the age of 21, and using a minor in drug operations. The told court officials that he is a self-employed artist.
Assistant Federal Public Defender Conor Huseby told the judge he didn’t object to his client’s detention at this time, but added, “We think he may be releasable in the future.” Clark hasn’t yet had a chance to be interviewed by a pretrial services officer, Huseby said.
According to court documents, on September 28, 2022, Portland Public Schools officials contacted the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) to request assistance locating a missing student. School officials received word that the student was last observed with Clark, a suspected supplier of drugs for students.
Investigators soon located the missing student with Clark in Powell Park in southeast Portland. During his arrest, officers said that they searched Clark’s backpack and located small amounts of cocaine and meth, and a digital scale covered in white powder residue. Police said Clark later admitted to selling drugs to minors.
A criminal complaint is only an accusation of a crime, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Clark appeared in federal court by video from the U.S. Marshals Service lockup in the federal courthouse in downtown Portland. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Armistead ordered Clark to remain in custody.
