By Daniel Tepfer
Connecticut Post Online
EASTON- A State Police task force Thursday broke up an alleged drug ring operating just down the street from the town’s Police Department and run by a former fire chief.
Ernest Ross, 60, the former fire chief, was packaging cocaine in his home on Center Road, according to the task force. With the help of at least two younger associates, he allegedly was selling the drugs at bars in Fairfield and Bridgeport, the police report states.
Ross was charged with operating a drug factory, possession of narcotics with intent to sell, possession of narcotics with intent to sell within 1,500 of a school and possession of marijuana with intent to sell.
He was released after posting $25,000 bond, pending arraignment Nov. 30 in Bridgeport Superior Court.
Police also arrested Kevin Hughes, 24, and Caitlyn Gomola, 21.
Hughes, of the Center Street address, was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to sell and possession of hallucinogenic mushrooms with intent to sell. He was released after posting $10,000 bond.
Gomola, of Valley View Road in Fairfield, was charged with interfering with a search warrant and released on a promise to appear in court.
The arrests were the culmination of a two-month investigation by the Statewide Narcotics Task Force.
State Police Sgt. Joseph Marchio said investigators determined that Ross had been selling $50 bags of cocaine from his house and at bars in Bridgeport and Fairfield.
State Police were monitoring Ross’ home Thursday night when they saw him leaving in a white Lexus SUV driven by a woman.
Officers followed the SUV and eventually stopped it on Black Rock Turnpike near McKinley Elementary School in Fairfield. Police said when they searched Ross they found four plastic bags containing cocaine and $240 in cash.
The task force then raided Ross’s home, taking Hughes and Gomola into custody. When they searched Hughes’ second-floor bedroom, police said they found four plastic storage containers with marijuana and one with dried hallucinogenic mushrooms. In a second-floor office, officers said they found a scale and cocaine-processing material.
Contacted Friday, Ross said the cocaine police found in his possession was for his personal use, but he denied selling it to others.
“I know they think it’s a big deal here, but I’m really sick over it,” continued Ross, who said he was the town’s fire chief in the 1980s.
“I had cocaine for my personal use, but I never sold it to others. I got out to bars a lot and I like to have a good time.”
He said the scale police found in his home was used to weigh envelopes and the supposed drug-processing substance was used to stop the bleeding while cutting dog’s nails.
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