Former Bassick basketball player sentenced to prison on drug charges

NEW HAVEN-A former Bassick High basketball player who dreamed of going to college was sentenced Monday to 37 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges of distributing fentanyl and crack cocaine.

Once Kentwan “Thomas” Robinson, 27, formerly of Clark Street, Ansonia and various housing projects in Bridgeport completes his prison term he will spend the next three years being supervised by the U.S. Probation Department according to the sentence imposed by Senior U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton.

Robinson has prior convictions for third-degree larceny, possession of narcotics and possession of narcotics with the intent to distribute dating back to 2012 and has served prison time, according to an affidavit submitted by Bridgeport Police Officer Christopher Martin, who is a member of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Task Force.

Investigators used a confidential informant to purchase drugs from Robinson in Bridgeport and Ansonia in 2018 and early in 2019. They seized eight grams of fentanyl, drug paraphernalia, cash and a magazine for a Glock during a search of his Clark Street apartment last year.

Additionally Robinson was arrested by Ohio authorities on Dec. 28, 2018 following a high speed chase in which he allegedly crashed the car and attempted to flee, according to federal court documents. Ohio State Highway Patrol officers found a Glock 9mm pistol with a high capacity magazine and a device enabling it to convert to rapid fire.

“The defendant’s poor judgment and disrespect for law and the legal system is perfectly exemplified in this case, where Robinson continued to distribute heroin and to sell gun converter switches while on bond release in the Ohio felony proceeding,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Vizcarrondo told Arterton. “…The true nature of his character was demonstrated when he chose to store and package fentanyl in the home where his five-year-old daughter lives. Let that stand in stark contrast to his protestations of goodness.”

However Assistant U.S. Public Defender Allison Murray Near told a different story. She said Robinson’s life took a turn for the worse just days after he graduated from Bassick High School when his father, Daron Green, was murdered and his mother was dealing with breast cancer. His plans to attend Housatonic Community College and then Southern Connecticut State University were derailed.

Robinson has been detained without bond since his Feb. 6, 2019 arrest in Ansonia.

On July 31, 2019 he pleaded guilty in federal court to two counts of distribution of fentanyl, one count of distribution of fentanyl and crack cocaine base and one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.

This investigation was handled by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force and the Bridgeport Police Department. The Task Force includes personnel from the DEA, Connecticut State Police and Norwalk, Stamford, Stratford, Milford, Bridgeport and Trumbull Police Departments.