Federal Jury Convicts Drug Dealer of Trafficking Fentanyl from Minneapolis to Bemidji

MINNEAPOLIS – Following a four-day jury trial, a federal jury found Antonio Trevyll McGraw- Williams, 35, guilty of possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson.

“This defendant knew exactly what he was doing—pushing deadly poison into our communities that he bragged was strong enough to kill. This is appalling,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson. “With a long and violent criminal history, this defendant made a career out of exploiting addiction and endangering lives. Today’s conviction sends a clear message: if you try to profit off of death and destruction, you will be held accountable. The people of Bemidji and greater Minnesota deserve better than to live under the threat of fentanyl-fueled addiction and loss.”

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, in the summer of 2022, special agents with the Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force learned that McGraw-Williams was bringing fentanyl from Minneapolis to Bemidji and then selling it to others. McGraw-Williams bragged that his fentanyl was so “strong” he might “catch a body”—he might kill a person. The agents learned McGraw-Williams was in Bemidji with fentanyl, selling it out of a room at a hotel. The agents applied for and received a search warrant to search McGraw-Williams’s room.

Inside the hotel room, agents found a bag of fentanyl and the markings of a drug dealer: tinfoils with user amounts of drugs, a blender to mix drugs, a scale to measure out drugs for sale, and mini Ziploc-style plastic bags for packaging drugs for users. The agents also found McGraw- Williams’s cell phone and a receipt bearing McGraw-Williams’s name. Agents searched the phone and found numerous texts conversations where McGraw-Williams was arranging drug deals. Later, DNA experts at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension identified McGraw- Williams’s DNA on the bag of fentanyl.

McGraw-Williams has a long and serious criminal history that includes convictions for First Degree Aggravated Robbery, Felony Violation of Order for Protection, and Felony Domestic Assault.

After a four-day trial before Judge Joan N. Ericksen in U.S. District Court, a federal jury found McGraw-Williams guilty of one count of possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl. A sentencing hearing will take place at a later date. McGraw-Williams faces a sentence a minimum of ten years in prison and a maximum of life.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew D. Forbes and Matthew D. Evans prosecuted the case.