Federal prison is now on the horizon for a 33-year-old Butler man who was caught with an AR-15-style rifle and other weapons while barred from having guns. Thomas James Clark was sentenced this week to seven years behind bars after his conviction for possessing firearms and ammunition as a convicted felon, a case that started with a January 2024 arrest and a pile of seized weapons.
Federal sentence and seized weapons
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania, U.S. District Judge W. Scott Hardy handed Clark an 84-month federal prison term, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Prosecutors said Clark was picked up on Jan. 20, 2024, on an outstanding arrest warrant and, when officers confronted him, he dropped an AR-15-style rifle with no serial number, a revolver and dozens of rounds of ammunition.
The case was prosecuted for the federal government by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelly M. Locher and Katherine C. Jordan, who argued that Clark had no business being anywhere near firearms or ammo given his criminal record.
Assault allegation and local charges
Local reporting ties Clark’s arrest to a brutal incident earlier that month, when he was allegedly involved in an assault at The Woodlands in Connoquenessing Township. Clark is accused of beating a man with a piece of metal rebar, leaving the victim injured enough that the group transporting him reportedly had to pull over on Route 422 and call for help. Paramedics then flew the man to a hospital in the region, according to ButlerRadio.
ButlerRadio reports that Clark is still facing aggravated-assault charges in Butler County court related to that episode and is currently awaiting trial on those local counts.
Past convictions and enforcement push
Federal prosecutors said Clark’s legal troubles go back years. He was previously convicted in Butler County court of methamphetamine production and criminal conspiracy after a 2017 guilty plea, which meant that under federal law he was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition at all, the U.S. Attorney's Office noted.
The office credited the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Pennsylvania State Police’s Butler Patrol and Fugitive Apprehension Unit and the Butler City Police Department for their work on the investigation. Prosecutors framed the case as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative, which focuses on cutting gun crime by targeting people who are legally barred from having weapons.
Where the county case stands
While Clark begins serving his federal sentence, the aggravated-assault case in Butler County is still moving through the local system. Specific upcoming court dates have not been publicly disclosed, according to ButlerRadio.
