JERSEY CITY – A convicted Jersey City drug dealer who served seven years in prison for killing a competitor during a shootout over control of a Greenville street corner has been arrested on heroin-related drug charges.
Elijah R. Clark, 27, now of Hillside, was arrested yesterday in Jersey City and charged with distribution of one glassine bag of suspected heroin within 1,000 feet of School 15, on Stegman Street, and within 500 feet of Fulton Avenue Park, the criminal complaint says.
He is also charged with possession with intent to distribute 32 glassine bags of suspected heroin near the school and park, the complaint says.
On Aug. 19, 2011, Clark was sentence to eight years in prison for the the Sept. 14, 2009 reckless manslaughter of Aaron Ballon, 21, aka “Cash,” of Bidwell Avenue. According to the Department of Corrections, Clark, who had two years of time served by the time he pleaded guilty, was released on July 8, 2016.
Clark was originally indicted on the more serious charge of aggravated manslaughter, but several issues prompted a plea to the lesser charge. A prosecutor said at the time of sentencing that Clark fired eight rounds on a crowded street, but he was not the aggressor.
Clark was represented by Jersey City attorney Darryl Smith when he made his first court appearance on the drug charges this afternoon in Criminal Justice Reform Court in Jersey City via video link from Hudson County jail in Kearny.
At the hearing, he was ordered released with several conditions of supervision pending trial.
Clark has also served time for three prior drug convictions and two gun offense connected to the homicide, according to corrections records.
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