Leader Of Multi-State Drug Trafficking Organization Sentenced To 30 Years

[Lucinda F. Boyd]

COLUMBUS, Ohio --

A 35 year-old man from Ohio was sentenced to 30 years in prison for leading a multi-state drug trafficking network.

Maurice L. Williams, aka “Papa Joe”, 35, of Columbus, Ohio and Decatur, Georgia was sentenced in U.S. District Court Thursday to 30 years in prison for leading a drug trafficking network responsible for distributing hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and marijuana throughout a multi-state region over a ten-year period.

A jury convicted Williams on April 1, 2010 of one count of operating a continuing criminal enterprise. Williams was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for that crime. During the trial, one witness testified that Williams’ organization brought in at least 10 truckloads of cocaine from Houston, Texas during one year and that each load contained at least 20 kilograms of cocaine.

Williams was sentenced to five years imprisonment for possession of a firearm in a drug trafficking crime, which will be served consecutive to his prison time for the continuing criminal enterprise. He was also sentenced to four years imprisonment on each of 26 counts of use of a telephone in the commission of a felony. Those sentences were ordered to be served concurrent to the other sentences. Judge Sargus also ordered him to forfeit cash, vehicles and firearms seized during the investigation.

On February 26, 2009, teams of federal, state and local law enforcement agents began arresting 29 people charged for their roles in the operation. The arrests capped a year-long investigation by the FBI, Columbus Police, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI). Williams remained a fugitive until FBI agents arrested him in Charlotte, North Carolina on August 14, 2009.

All others charged as part of the investigation have pleaded guilty to crimes for their role in the drug trafficking organization. Many of the co-defendants testified during Williams’ trial...