BALTIMORE, MD—Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown this week announced that Clarence Joseph Buckner, Jr., 49, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty and was sentenced on felony fentanyl and cocaine distribution charges following a drug trafficking investigation in the eastern district of Baltimore City.

Buckner pleaded guilty to volume dealer/possession of a large amount of fentanyl mixture and distribution of cocaine before the Honorable Lawrence R. Daniels in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City. Judge Daniels sentenced Buckner to 30 years of incarceration, suspending all but eight years, with the first five years being served without the possibility of parole. Upon his release, Buckner will be placed on five years of supervised probation.

In January 2022, an investigation led by the Attorney General’s Organized Crime Division, the Drug Enforcement Administration through the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Program—Group 54, and the Baltimore City Police Department (BPD) utilized a variety of investigative methods, including the use of undercover BPD detectives, to make controlled purchases of narcotics, including fentanyl in the eastern district.

The investigation culminated in the execution of a search warrant in June 2022. In total, the investigation led to the seizure of one firearm and large amounts of controlled dangerous substances and packaging material.

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