Woman Sentenced to 7 Years in Federal Prison for Trafficking Cocaine
WATERBURY, Conn. - David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that TASHIA BRIDGES, also known as “Cheena,” 35, of Torrington and Waterbury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 84 months of imprisonment and four years of supervised release for her role in a drug trafficking conspiracy that operated out of New Britain car dealership.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2024, the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force and New Britain Police Department conducted an investigation into a drug trafficking organization, headed by Wilfredo Ortiz and Michael Luisi, that was operating out of Supreme Automotive, a car dealership located at 494 Main Street in New Britain. The investigation included the use of court-authorized wiretaps, physical and electronic surveillance, and controlled purchases of narcotics, primarily cocaine.
The investigation revealed that Bridges regularly purchased approximately 400 to 500 grams of cocaine from Luisi and then sold crack and powder cocaine to her own customers.
Bridges, Ortiz, Luisi, and several other co-conspirators were arrested on November 14, 2024. On that date, investigators conducted court authorized searches of Supreme Automotive and other locations connected to the drug trafficking organization and seized more than five kilograms of cocaine, more than 200 grams of fentanyl, approximately 30 grams of heroin, a kilogram press, seven firearms, ammunition, approximately $75,000 in cash, and 26 vehicles. Searches of Bridges’ residences in Torrington and Waterbury revealed nearly 250 grams of crack cocaine, a small quantity of powder cocaine, a digital scale, a 9mm firearm with an obliterated serial number, and more than $14,000 in cash.
On March 6, 2025, Bridges pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. She has been detained since September 11, 2025, when her federal bond was revoked after she was arrested by the Connecticut State Police and charged with drug distribution and related offenses.
Ortiz and Luisi have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.
This investigation has been conducted by the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Marshal Service, the Connecticut State Police, the Connecticut Department of Correction, the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles Police, and the New Britain, Hartford, West Hartford, Waterbury, Naugatuck, East Hartford, Brookfield, Milford, Norwich, Orange, North Haven, Meriden, Berlin, and Manchester Police Departments.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Natasha Freismuth, Reed Durham, and David Nelson.
