Before sentencing Lyndel and Sherri Clark to eight years in prison for drug distribution, Judge Todd Plewe said most people age out of the criminal justice system, but the married couple in their 60s did not.

Lyndel R. Clark, 65, and Sherri L. Clark, 62, pleaded guilty in February to two identical counts of distribution of meth and distribution of heroin, admitting their involvement in two separate and distinct controlled drug deals from their home on County Road H in 2018.

During a sentencing hearing on Tuesday, Deputy District Attorney Sheena Goldsborough said prosecutors worked extensively with the Southwest Drug Task Force. The Clarks were surveilled for months, she said, and are some of the largest distributors of meth and heroin in Montezuma County. Their operation bled over into La Plata County, she added.

She said the co-defendants are equally culpable, but Lyndel was observed by the Task Force and the DEA transporting meth into Montezuma County, which led to the takedown of their organization. She added that several witness stated the Clark’s exercised violence.

Plewe said some drug dealers are in it to support their drug addiction, but the Clarks were engaged in the distribution of drugs as a business. He said the Clark’s distribution likely resulted in deaths and it is appropriate that they go to prison and then be monitored.

He sentenced both co-defendants to eight years with the Colorado Department of Corrections followed by five years of state supervised probation. If they violate probation, they could go back to prison.

Plewe said there’s a chance this could be a life sentence for the sexagenarians.

sdolan@the-journal.com