A 50-year-old Odessa man was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison on a drug charge Aug. 2 and he’s now facing trial in state court for the same crime.
According to online court records, a criminal complaint was filed in United States District Court in Midland in February 2022 charging Thomas Patrick Clausen with distribution and possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of actual methamphetamine.
According to an affidavit filed by an OPD officer, detectives began receiving tips in July 2021 that Clausen was distributing methamphetamine from Arizona in large quantities. Officers watching Clausen’s house made a traffic stop and found a usable amount of methamphetamine in the car, allowing them to search Clausen’s house.
Clausen wasn’t arrested because officers didn’t find a large amount of methamphetamine during that search. However, according to the affidavit, detectives got another search warrant when one of their confidential informants bought more than 100 grams of methamphetamine from Clausen. During the subsequent search, they found 77 grams of methamphetamine in his home in the 1300 block of Elmwood Avenue, the affidavit stated.
Clausen confessed to distributing methamphetamine and was sentenced Aug. 2 to 87 months in prison.
Jail records indicate Clausen was booked into the Ector County jail Thursday on a state charge of manufacturing/delivering of a controlled substance, more than 4 grams, less than 200 grams, and he’s being held without bail.
Online records show Clausen sent a letter to Ector County District Clerk Clarissa Webster in March 2022 asking how he could be charged with the same crime he was facing in federal court in state court. He asked how he could take care of it.
Federal court records indicate Clausen’s federal sentence will be served after he completes a prison sentence in Washington State and at the same time as any sentence he might receive in his Ector County case.
