A 20-year-old New Orleans man, Kendrick Williams, has admitted his guilt to charges of drug possession with the intent to distribute, coupled with firearm possession related to drug trafficking. According to an announcement from United States Attorney Duane A. Evans on October 22. Williams pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey to violations involving tapentadol and marijuana, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Court documents revealed that the accused had been using social media to hawk his illegal drugs. As they executed two search warrants at Williams's residence, law enforcement officers discovered, among other illegal substances, over 800 tapentadol pills and a pound of marijuana. At the scene were also found two Glock handguns, complete with extended magazines, alongside $9,000 in cash posing a stark tableau of Williams' alleged criminal enterprise.
The penalties facing Williams are severe. He could serve up to 20 years in prison for each drug trafficking conviction and is staring down the possibility of a $1,000,000 fine, along with a mandated three years of supervised release. The firearm charge adds a mandatory minimum sentence of five years, which may go up to life in prison, to be served consecutively with other sentences, and carries its own potential $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release. Each count against Williams also brings with it a mandatory special assessment fee of $100, according to the same press release.
This case slots into the broader tapestry of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a collaborative program aimed at reducing violent crime and gun violence. The FBI and the New Orleans Police Department conducted the investigation, under the oversight of Assistant United States Attorney David Berman from the Violent Crime Unit, who is the lead for the prosecution.
