Press Release
Alabama drug dealer sentenced to Federal prison for firearms offense
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of West Virginia
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – An Alabama man who possessed marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and firearms at his residence on Charleston’s West Side was sentenced today to five years in federal prison for possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, announced Acting United States Attorney Carol Casto. Michael Anthony Williams, 32, previously pleaded guilty in September 2015.
On March 7, 2014, drug task force officers executed a search warrant at the residence of Williams and Atesha Smith, located on 4th Avenue in Charleston. Among other items, police seized 10 firearms, including pistols, assault rifles, and a sawed-off shotgun; more than 500 grams of 97% pure methamphetamine; a large quantity of marijuana and oxycodone; over $73,000 in cash; and scales, packaging materials, and a money counter. Smith’s mobile telephone contained a text message with a U.S. Postal Service tracking number assigned to a package to be delivered to the address. A U.S. Postal Inspector intercepted the package and searched it on March 11, 2014. Among other items, the package contained over 500 grams of cocaine. Smith pleaded guilty in September to possession with intent to distribute marijuana and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 6, 2016.
The case was investigated by the United Postal Inspection Service and the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team. Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Hanks is in charge of the prosecution. United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr., imposed the sentence.
This prosecution is part of an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of illegal drugs, including methamphetamine. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of illegal drugs in communities across the Southern District.
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Updated June 1, 2016
Topics
Drug Trafficking
Project Safe Neighborhoods
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