Man Sentenced For Selling Fentanyl In Bridgeport: Feds

BRIDGEPORT, CT — A man has been sentenced to 70 months in prison for trafficking heroin and fentanyl, according to federal prosecutors. Constantino Acosta-Banda, 43, a citizen of Mexico last residing in Chula Vista, CA, was sentenced recently in Bridgeport federal court.

According to prosecutors, in 2019, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force began investigating an organization dealing heroin, fentanyl, and crack cocaine in an around Bridgeport.

The investigation found that the organization had a connection to Mexican drug cartel traffickers and was seeking out a steady supply of drugs from the west coast of the U.S.

Members of the organization traveled to a parking lot in San Diego in December 2019 and bought 1.1 kilograms of fentanyl from their suppliers for $27,000. They then arranged to purchase five kilograms of heroin from their suppliers.

On Feb. 10, 2020, Acosta-Banda and three other individuals were arrested after they arrived at the same parking lot to complete the deal and investigators seized a box from them containing about 4.9 kilograms of heroin, according to federal prosecutors. In a related search of a storage locker in San Diego investigators found about six kilograms of cocaine.

Acosta-Banda has been detained since his arrest. He pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl.

Acosta-Banda, who has been deported to Mexico at least 17 times since 2002, faces immigration proceedings when he completes his prison term. In 2017, while driving under the influence in California, Acosta-Banda was involved in a hit-and-run crash that seriously injured a six-year-old boy, according to prosecutors.