A Connecticut woman has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison for her role in a drug trafficking conspiracy that operated out of a car dealership, according to federal authorities.
Tashia Bridges, also known as “Cheena,” 35, of Torrington and Waterbury, also was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to four years of supervised release for her role in the conspiracy that operated out of the New Britain car dealership, according to federal authorities.
Citing court documents and statements made in court, authorities said that the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force and New Britain Police Department did an investigation in 2024 into a drug trafficking organization, headed by Wilfredo Ortiz and Michael Luisi, that operated from Supreme Automotive, a car dealership at 494 Main St., New Britain.
Authorities said the investigation included use of court-authorized wiretaps, physical and electronic surveillance, and controlled purchases of narcotics, “primarily cocaine.”
It revealed “Bridges regularly purchased approximately 400 to 500 grams of cocaine from Luisi and then sold crack and powder cocaine to her own customers,” according to federal authorities.
When Bridges, Ortiz, Luisi, and other co-conspirators were arrested on Nov. 14, 2024, investigators did 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’ homes in Torrington and Waterbury uncovered almost 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, according to federal authorities.
Bridges pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, according to federal authorities. She has been held since Sept. 11, 2025, as her federal bond was revoked when she was arrested by the Connecticut State Police and charged with drug distribution and related offenses, according to federal authorities.
Ortiz and Luisi pleaded guilty and await sentencing, authorities said.
The investigation was done 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.