Bridgeport Trafficker ‘Coop’ Sentenced to 15 Years

Bridgeport Trafficker ‘Coop’ Sentenced to 15 Years

Connecticut’s grim underbelly of narcotics trafficking claimed another scalp yesterday, as Wallace Best, 57, of Bridgeport, was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison for trafficking fentanyl and heroin.

Best, also known as “Coop,” was handed down the sentence by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in New Haven, following a 2022 jury conviction on charges of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute kilogram quantities of heroin and fentanyl, as well as heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine base. He was also convicted of five counts of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine base.

According to court documents and statements made in court, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force began investigating an organization distributing heroin, fentanyl, and crack cocaine in and around Bridgeport in 2019. Task Force members made four controlled purchases of heroin and fentanyl from Frank Best, Wallace’s nephew. The investigation revealed that Wallace Best and his uncle, Jeffrey Thomas, supplied Frank Best and others with narcotics.

Further investigation revealed that 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 1.1 kilograms of fentanyl, cut with Xylazine and Tramadol, in exchange for $27,000. 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 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.

Wallace Best’s criminal history includes a federal cocaine trafficking conviction in 2002. He was arrested on February 11, 2020, and released on a $150,000 bond. He is required to report to prison on July 15. Cox was sentenced to 125 months of imprisonment on April 24, 2024, while Thomas and Frank Best await sentencing.

The case 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 is being 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.

Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF. The Program 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.