CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Charleston man received a 20-year prison sentence Monday for drug possession with intent to distribute.
Che Dushon Lark
Che Dushon Lark, 48, of Charleston, was sentenced for possession with intent to distribute heroin and methamphetamine. He will have his prison time followed by three years of supervised release.
Court documents state that on March 6, 2020, Lark was found by officers to be in possession of 4.4 grams of methamphetamine and 11.2 grams of a mixture of heroin and methamphetamine while parked in a car in a private driveway on Charleston’s West Side. Officers said Lark was slumped over in the driver’s seat of the vehicle and had the packages on his lap.
When officers attempted to remove Lark from the vehicle, he drove off at a high rate of speed down some narrow streets. Lark ended up striking and killing a woman with his vehicle. Heather Ross, of Charleston, was escorting her four children to their bus stop for school that day.
After the hit-and-run, Lark abandoned his vehicle and fled on foot. He faces charges of fleeing in a vehicle causing death.
On June 11, 2020, law enforcement officers found Lark at a residence in Chillicothe, Ohio. He had a fake Michigan driver’s license, gave officers a false name and was at the property without the consent of the property owner.
Lark’s criminal history is lengthy with at least nine prior convictions in multiple states. Four of those convictions are for controlled substances-related offenses and three are for fleeing from law enforcement.
In the early months of 2021, Lark used various third parties to distribute drugs. On February 23, 2021, Lark’s girlfriend, Rebecca Dunlap, sold approximately 12 grams of methamphetamine to a confidential informant after setting up the sale through cell phone. On March 4, 2021, Lark coordinated the sale of a quantity of fentanyl by Dunlap, an associate of Lark’s, to a confidential informant.
On March 17, 2021, Dunlap drove from Charleston to Columbus, Ohio, to pick up controlled substances for Lark. She was stopped by officers on her way back to Charleston with approximately 799 grams of methamphetamine and 200 grams of fentanyl. Dunlap admitted to delivering drugs to Lark from Columbus on two other occasions.
On September 2, 2021, Dunlap, 48, also of Charleston, pleaded guilty to traveling in interstate commerce to promote, carry on, and facilitate a methamphetamine and fentanyl drug conspiracy. She awaits sentencing.