Bridgeport Drug Trafficker Sentenced to More Than 10 Years in Federal Prison

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JEFFREY THOMAS, also known as “Zig,” 51, of Bridgeport, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in New Haven to 125 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for trafficking fentanyl and heroin, and for violating the conditions of his supervised release that followed a prior federal conviction.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2019, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force began investigating an organization that was distributing heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine in an around Bridgeport.  During the investigation, Task Force members made four controlled purchases of heroin and fentanyl from Frank Best.  The investigation, which included court-authorized wiretaps and hundreds of consensual recordings, revealed that Frank Best’s uncles, Wallace Best and Jeffrey Thomas, were supplying Frank Best and others with narcotics.

The investigation further revealed that Thomas worked with Jason Cox to establish a connection to Mexican-sourced drug suppliers in California who could provide kilogram quantities of narcotics for distribution on the East Coast.  In December 2019, a cooperating source working in conjunction with Wallace Best, Thomas, and Cox, traveled to a Home Depot parking lot in San Diego and purchased from their suppliers 1.1 kilograms of fentanyl, cut with Xylazine, which is a veterinary sedative, and Tramadol, in exchange for $27,000.  After this successful transaction, the conspirators arranged to purchase five kilograms of heroin from their Mexican suppliers.  On February 10, 2020, four individuals were arrested after they arrived at the same parking lot to conduct the transaction and investigators seized a box containing approximately 4.9 kilograms of heroin.  A related search of a storage locker in San Diego revealed an additional five kilograms of heroin.

On October 14, 2022, a jury found Thomas, Wallace Best, and Cox guilty of one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute kilogram quantities of heroin and fentanyl, and Thomas, Wallace Best, and Frank Best guilty of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute heroin, fentanyl and cocaine base (“crack”).  In addition, Frank Best was found guilty of five counts of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine base.

Thomas was previously convicted of a federal narcotics trafficking offense in 2002, and he was sentenced to 262 months of imprisonment.  He was released from prison in January 2019 and was on federal supervised release at the time of his most recent criminal conduct.

Thomas was arrested on February 11, 2020.  Released on a $150,000 bond, he is required to report to prison on July 23.

On May 13, 2024, Wallace Best was also sentenced to 180 months of imprisonment.  On April 24, 2024, Cox was sentenced to 125 months of imprisonment.  Frank Best awaits sentencing.

This matter was investigated by the DEA’s Bridgeport HIDTA Task Force with the assistance of the DEA San Diego Field Division.  The DEA’s Bridgeport HIDTA Task Force includes personnel from the DEA Bridgeport Resident Office, the Connecticut State Police, and the Bridgeport, Norwalk, Stamford, Stratford, Milford, and Danbury Police Departments.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen L. Peck, Lauren C. Clark, and Katherine E. Boyles through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations through a prosecutor-led and intelligence-driven approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.