Leader of Fentanyl Conspiracy Sentenced to 20 Years

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Maryland man was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for leading a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl in the Washington, DC area.

According to court documents, Donnell Leroy Williams, 55, aka Bubbles, his son, Antonio Donnell Shelton, 30, aka Little Bubbles, James Coleman Brown, 51, and Demetrius Antonio Johnson, 37, aka Bake, worked together to distribute fentanyl, a highly dangerous narcotic. During the course of the conspiracy, Williams and his co-conspirators had the ability to obtain large quantities of fentanyl, and they routinely sold fentanyl and other highly addictive drugs to customers at locations in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Nancy McNamara, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Colonel Edwin C. Roessler Jr., Fairfax County Chief of Police, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton. Assistant U.S. Attorneys J. Tyler McGaughey and David A. Peters prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:18-cr-30.