Naugatuck Man Accused Of Trafficking Heroin, Cocaine Sentenced: Feds

NAUGATUCK, CT — A Naugatuck man accused of trafficking heroin and crack cocaine in Bridgeport was sentenced Friday to 25 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney for Connecticut Vanessa Roberts Avery announced in a news release.

According to court documents and statements made in court, members of the FBI's Bridgeport Safe Streets Task Force and Bridgeport police began investigating individuals distributing narcotics in and around the city in the summer of 2017.

The investigation included the use of court-authorized wiretaps, controlled purchases of narcotics, physical and video surveillance and the execution of multiple search and seizure warrants.

The investigation revealed Antonio Small, 30, formerly of Naugatuck, and others were distributing large quantities of heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine in the Bridgeport area, Avery said.

According to Avery, Small was the leader of an organization that was based on the west side of Bridgeport.

Small and his associates used a residence on Poplar Street in Bridgeport to store, process and package narcotics, and his group was involved in violence, Avery said.

Intercepted calls revealed Small kept a firearm at the residence and possessed it while looking to retaliate against someone he believed had wronged him, Avery said.

According to Avery, a close associate of Small was shot and killed in the vicinity of the Poplar Street residence on Oct. 31, 2018. A woman who was close by was also killed during the incident.

Additionally, one of Small's co-conspirators, while in possession of drugs he intended to distribute, engaged police in a car chase and struck and killed another driver and maimed two pedestrians, Avery said.

Small's criminal history includes convictions for drug, firearm, evidence tampering and other offenses, and he was on state probation while engaged in the conduct that resulted in his federal prosecution, according to Avery.

Small has been detained since his arrest on Nov. 6, 2018. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with the intent to distribute, more than one kilogram of heroin and a quantity of cocaine base "crack" in January 2020.