Bridgeport Drug Trafficker Sentenced

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that FRANK JAMONT BEST, also known as "JB," and "Cash," 50, of Bridgeport, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in New Haven to approximately 37 months of imprisonment, time already served, and three years of supervised release, for trafficking fentanyl and heroin. The government sought a sentence within the advisory guidelines range of 168 to 210 months of imprisonment.

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 and around Bridgeport. During the investigation, Task Force members made four controlled purchases of heroin and fentanyl from 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 Jeffrey 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.

Frank Best was arrested on September 30, 2020. He has been detained since August 27, 2021, after he violated conditions of his pretrial release and his bond was revoked.

On October 14, 2022, a jury found Frank Best, Wallace Best, Thomas and Cox guilty of one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute kilogram quantities of heroin and fentanyl, and Wallace Best, Thomas, 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.

Frank Best's criminal history includes multiple felony convictions, including a federal conviction in 1999 for trafficking narcotics, for which he was sentenced to 41 months of imprisonment, and a federal conviction in 2006 for possession of a firearm by a felon, for which he was sentenced to 70 months of imprisonment, and an additional 10 months of imprisonment for violating the conditions of his supervised release.

On April 24, 2024, Cox was sentenced to 125 months of imprisonment; on May 14, 2024, Wallace Best was sentenced to 180 months of imprisonment; and on May 17, 2024, Thomas was sentenced to 125 months of imprisonment.

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 was 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.