Editor's note: Story updated on Friday, Aug. 10 at noon to correct warrant information. Friday August 10, 2012

NORTH ADAMS -- The alleged kingpin of a drug ring, distributing crack cocaine in the Northern Berkshires, will be arraigned in Northern Berkshire District Court today, following his arrest Thursday on an outstanding warrant for a single count of crack distribution in 2007.

Clifton Sumlin, also known as "Clapp," 42, from Bronx, N.Y., was arrested around 11:37 a.m. on Thursday after being stopped by North Adams Police officers who were out on a patrol in the Eagle and Hudson streets neighborhood. Sumlin is being held on $25,000 cash bail until his arraignment today.

"One of the North Adams Police officers believed he matched the description of the warrant," Public Safety Commissioner E. John Morocco said Thursday. "When the officer approached him and asked for identification, [Sumlin] didn't have one and also gave a phony name. Eventually, the officer asked for [Berkshire County Drug Task Force] agent identification. The result of that was he was arrested. It was good work on the part of the officer."

He added, "It is alleged that from August 2007 through September 2009, Sumlin was the kingpin in a cocaine distribution network originating in New York City."

The warrant was issued by the Northern Berkshire District Court in 2008, following a sting in the city involving an alleged sale by Sumlin to a police informant in the parking lot of

Advertisement
Big Y in North Adams in September 2007. A warrant was issued by Northern Berkshire District Court in 2008. It is alleged that Sumlin was also involved in a 2009 sting in the city and Williamstown that resulted in the confiscation of 195 grams of crack-cocaine and more than $19,000 in cash. The sting also resulted in the arrest of three individuals, including Darnell Sumlin, who was later sentenced to 12 to 15 years in state prison after admitting in Berkshire Superior Court to single counts of cocaine trafficking, cocaine possession with intent to distribute, school-zone drug violation and conspiracy to distribute cocaine related to the sting operation.

At the time of Darnell Sumlin's arraignment in Northern Berkshire District Court in July 2009 on the charges stemming from the drug task force sting, Morocco alleged that Darnell and Clifton Sumlin were brothers. Darnell Sumlin's case was later transferred to Berkshire Superior Court.

"Darnell Sumlin is the brother of Clifton Sumlin, who brings these young guys from the ‘hood to the Berkshires, where he introduces them to local residents who are crack users," Morocco said during a July 2009 interview with the Transcript. "These young kids are intermediaries who stay here in the city for a short period of time and are then replaced."

To reach Jennifer Huberdeau, email jhuberdeau@thetranscript.com.