HARTFORD, Conn. — A citizen of Jamaica was sentenced to 32 years in prison in Hartford federal court on Thursday for narcotics trafficking, passport fraud, identity fraud and money laundering offenses, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Prosecutors say Oneil Wilks, 45, was living under a false identity in California as he supplied large amounts of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine to individuals who were distributing the narcotics in and around Bridgeport.
Evidence presented during Wilks’ trial revealed that members of the FBI’s Bridgeport Safe Streets Task Force arrested multiple people, including Louie McDowell, in November 2018 who were distributing the drugs in Connecticut. In the process of investigating McDowell, they were alerted to Wilks.
According to prosecutors, Wilks had been removed from the U.S. to Jamaica in February 2014 but returned illegally using stolen identification information to apply for and receive a Florida’s driver’s license in 2015 and a U.S. passport in 2016. Investigators noted that Wilks used his fraudulently obtained passport to travel to overseas destinations such as Japan and Thailand.
The release says Wilks was stopped by law enforcement in southern California in April 2019 while using his stolen identity. Prosecutors say he had five kilograms of suspected cocaine in the car he was driving.
As the investigations into Wilks continued, investigators seized a package in July 2019 that contained six kilograms of cocaine that was being mailed from California to Connecticut, according to prosecutors.
On Aug. 5, 2019, Wilks was arrested. Prosecutors say court-authorized searches of two residences and a vehicle connected to Wilks yielded discoveries of around four kilograms of fentanyl/xylazine, items used to process and package narcotics, false identifications and over $160,000 in cash.
The release says that on Dec. 22, 2021, a jury found Wilks guilty of one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, five kilograms or more of cocaine and 400 grams or more of fentanyl, one count of making false statement in a passport application, one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
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Wilks has been detained since his arrest.
Prosecutors say multiple law enforcement agencies assisted in the investigation. These include the FBI’s Bridgeport Safe Streets Task Force, the DEA, Connecticut State Police and the Bridgeport, Stratford, Norwalk, Seymour and Trumbull Police Departments.
Furthermore, the investigation was assisted by law enforcement in California such as the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, Task Force Group 44, the Orange County Sheriff’s Regional Narcotics Suppression Program, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Culver City Police Department, the release says.
The case was prosecuted through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Program, which prosecutors say identifies, disrupts and dismantles drug traffickers, money launders, gangs and transnational criminal organizations.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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