An Atlanta man has been sentenced to 22 years in federal prison for his involvement in a fentanyl distribution conspiracy in the Eastern District of Texas. Acting U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs announced that Clarence Nero, aged 56, was convicted after a three-day trial of conspiring to traffic fentanyl. He received a sentence of 264 months from U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant on June 24, 2025.
Court documents revealed that Nero orchestrated a scheme to smuggle fentanyl across the U.S.-Mexico border into Arizona, and then distribute it from Phoenix to New Orleans and along the east coast.
On February 14, 2022, Quanita Brown was stopped by police on Highway 380 in Denton County with 2.5 kilograms of fentanyl hidden in her vehicle’s false compartment. A police K-9 detected the drugs during the stop. The investigation identified Nero as the main supplier behind this widespread trafficking operation throughout the southern United States.
The case is part of Operation Take Back America, an initiative led by the Department of Justice aimed at combating illegal immigration, dismantling cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and safeguarding communities from violent crime offenders. This operation consolidates efforts from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations and the Denton County Sheriff’s Office, with prosecution handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Anderson and Chris Rapp.
