CT man indicted after crashing car full of drugs. Search of apartment allegedly turns up more

A Bridgeport man has been indicted on narcotics charges after authorities allegedly found hundreds of fentanyl pills and bags of various types of drugs in a vehicle he crashed last year before a search of his apartment earlier this month allegedly turned up hundreds more pills and wax sleeves of fentanyl.

A grand jury returned the indictment in federal court in Hartford on Wednesday against 28-year-old Jermel Bates, also known as “Mel Kitty” and “Kitty,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.

Bates faces two counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, federal officials said. If convicted, he could face anywhere from five to 40 years in prison on each count, according to officials.

Federal authorities said Bates crashed his vehicle into a parked car in Bridgeport in the early morning hours on June 25, 2023, and fled on foot. Investigators searched the vehicle and reported finding about 550 blue and green fentanyl pills stamped “M/30,” more than 500 wax paper folds containing heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine and about 78 grams of crack cocaine.

Bates was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on March 19.

Authorities searched Bates and his apartment on Newfield Avenue at the time of the arrest and allegedly found plastic bags with thousands of blue and green fentanyl pills, hundreds of wax paper sleeves containing fentanyl and a bag with an unspecified amount of crack cocaine inside, according to federal officials.

The case is being investigated by the FBI Bridgeport Safe Streets Task Force, the Bridgeport Police Department and the Norwalk Police Department, federal officials said.