News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 28, 2007

Bridgeport Man Sentenced To Two Years In Federal Prison
For Cocaine Trafficking

FEB 28 -- June W. Stansbury, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in New England and Kevin J. O’Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JOSE VARGAS, age 32, of 169 Park Street, Bridgeport, was sentenced yesterday, February 27, by United States District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to two years of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. On October 19, 2006, VARGAS pleaded guilty to the offense.

According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in court, in June 2005, the Bridgeport DEA’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force commenced an investigation into a cocaine trafficking operation in Bridgeport, which eventually included court-authorized wiretaps of telephones used by certain members of the operation, and closed circuit television monitoring of an office used by the traffickers for narcotics-related activities. The investigation established that the ring obtained cocaine from a source of supply located in the New York metropolitan area, and redistributed it in and around Bridgeport to numerous cocaine dealers, including VARGAS.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, which includes the Stratford, Norwalk, Stamford, Greenwich, New Canaan, and Easton Police Departments.