Jamaican Citizen Found Guilty In Bridgeport Drug Case: Feds

BRIDGEPORT, CT — A citizen of Jamaica accused of involvement in a Connecticut drug trafficking scheme has been found guilty by a federal jury, according to a statement from prosecutors. Oniel Wilks, 42, was found guilty of drug, identity fraud, and money laundering crimes.

According to prosecutors, in November 2018, members of the FBI’s Bridgeport Safe Streets Task Force arrested several people, including Louie McDowell, accused of distributing large quantities of heroin, fentanyl, and crack cocaine in an around Bridgeport.

The investigation found that Wilks was supplying heroin, fentanyl and cocaine to McDowell. Wilks was using a false identity and living in California. Wilks, who had been removed from the U.S. to Jamaica in February 2014 and then illegally reentered the U.S., used stolen ID information to apply for and receive a Florida driver’s license in 2015, and a U.S. passport in 2016, according to prosecutors.

Investigators determined that Wilks had used his fraudulent passport to travel overseas, including to Japan and Thailand.

In April 2019, Wilks, using his stolen identity, was stopped by law enforcement officers in southern California with five kilograms of suspected cocaine in the car he was driving. As the investigation into Wilks’ drug trafficking activities continued, in July 2019, investigators seized a package containing six kilograms of cocaine that was being mailed from California to Connecticut.

Wilks was arrested in August 2019 and court-authorized searches of two homes and a vehicle connected to him revealed approximately four kilograms of fentanyl, items used to process and package drugs, false identifications, and more than $160,000 in cash.

Wilks is scheduled for sentencing March 16 and faces a maximum prison term of life.