A federal court here has found Oniel Wilks, a Jamaican national, guilty of narcotics, identity fraud and money laundering offenses.
Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, Leonard C. Boyle, said Oniel Wilks, 42, will re-appear before US District Judge Alvin W. Thompson, for sentencing on March 16, 2022, “at which time Wilks faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 12 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life”.
Wilks also will forfeit several vehicles, diamonds originally valued at more than US$50,000, a watch he purchased for more than US$12,000, and approximately US$180,000 seized from a bank account, Boyle said, adding that Wilks has been detained since his arrest.
The court heard that in November 2018, members of the FBI’s Bridgeport, Connecticut Safe Streets Task Force arrested several individuals, including Louie McDowell, who were distributing large quantities of heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine in an around Bridgeport.
The investigation subsequently revealed that McDowell, who has pleaded guilty and awaiting sentencing, was being supplied with the illegal drugs by Wilks, who was using a false identity and living in California.
Boyle said the Jamaican national, who had been removed from the US to Jamaica in February 2014 and then illegally re-entered the country, used stolen identifying information of an individual to apply for and receive a Florida driver’s license in 2015 and a US passport in 2016.
“Investigators determined that Wilks had used his fraudulent passport to travel overseas, including to Japan and Thailand,” Boyle said.
In April 2019, Wilks, using his stolen identity, was stopped by law enforcement officers in southern California with five kilograms of suspected cocaine in the car he was driving, Boyle said.
As the investigation into Wilks’ drug trafficking activities continued, the Acting United States Attorney said that, in July 2019, investigators seized a package containing six kilograms of cocaine that was being mailed from California to Connecticut.
On August 5, 2019, Boyle said the Jamaican was arrested, adding that court-authorized searches of two residences and a vehicle connected to him revealed about four kilograms of fentanyl, items used to process and package narcotics, false identifications and more than US$160,000 in cash.
Boyle said the 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 a false statement in a passport application; one count of aggravated identity theft; and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
/CMC
