Boston City Worker Charged With Dealing Heroin

An employee of Boston's Public Works Department has pleaded not guilty to allegations he dealt heroin out of a city truck.

Forty-nine-year-old Kenneth Clark appeared Monday in Dorchester District Court and pleaded not guilty to distribution of Class A drugs. He was ordered held on $15,000 bail.

Clark's lawyer, Courtney Linnehan, said Clark was picking up trash — not dealing drugs — when city police arrested him last week.

Clark has been suspended from his job picking up dead animals and sweeping streets pending a city investigation.

The Boston Herald reports Clark's criminal history includes convictions for armed assault and drug dealing near a school. Public works officials didn't seek a background check because the job Clark applied for in 2011 isn't among the 145 city jobs requiring background checks.