New Jersey Man Sentenced for Role in Heroin Conspiracy

ROANOKE, VIRGINIA – A New Jersey man, who previously admitted to supplying heroin to Roanoke drug dealers from sources in New Jersey, was sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke, United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. announced.

Hassan Rasool Williams, of Jersey City, New Jersey, who previously pled guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute more than 1,000 grams of heroin, was sentenced today to 151 months in federal prison.

“Heroin has become a public health crisis in this country and must be treated as such by both law enforcement and treatment professionals,” United States Attorney Fishwick said today. “We will continue to prosecute those, like Mr. Williams, who traffic large amounts of heroin into our communities while also supporting programs that provide treatment for addicts of this deadly drug. It is only through a comprehensive approach can we hope to make progress on this important issue.”

According to evidence presented at previous hearings by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Bassford, from March 2013 to July 2015, Williams ran an organization that brought heroin from New Jersey to the City of Roanoke where it was resold, either by himself or his co-conspirators, Dawayne Lamar Gibson, Duane A. Andrews, Marquis Rashad Harris and Camilla Bridget Ward.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Roanoke City Police Department and officials with the Baltimore/Washington HIDTA. Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Bassford prosecuted the case for the United States.