A father and son duo were convicted over a drug trafficking conspiracy in a Maryland federal court Thursday — but were acquitted of kidnapping and armed robbery charges.
Scott Williams, 45, of Laurel, Maryland, and Taeyan Williams, 26, of Morgantown, West Virginia, had a mutual relationship with a person identified as Victim 1 by the Justice Department.
The Williams duo sold Victim 1 cocaine for further distribution, and purchased marijuana, also for further distribution, between Oct. 2017 and April 6, 2018.
Due to their various transactions, the father and son, along with other unspecified Williams family members, became indebted to Victim 1. In the spring of 2018, Victim 1 received a large shipment of marijuana and marijuana products from a California supplier.
Victim 1 then proceeded to set up a meeting between themselves and the father and son pair on April 6, 2018, to discuss the debts and to arrange a sale of the marijuana shipped from California.
Victim 1 would retrieve the products, aiming to sell them to the Williamses, on April 5 and April 6, 2018, before driving from Baltimore to Laurel, where the elder Williams lived. Data shows that, at 1:32 that afternoon, Victim 1 was about 1.5 miles from the residence where the meeting was to take place.
At 1:52 p.m. Victim 1 updated their ledger stored in their email account, noting how much drugs had been sold to the younger Williams, and how much money was still owed.
Between 8:37 p.m. on April 6, 2018, and 8:31 p.m. on April 8, 2018, the elder Williams used a PIN number to access Victim 1’s storage facility in Jessup, Maryland. From April 8 to June 6, 2018, the drugs from the unit were hidden at the Laurel residence.
Victim 1 would not be seen alive again, and his body was never recovered.
During the nine-day trial, prosecutors exhibited evidence showing that the elder Williams and others drove Victim 1’s car to a Baltimore lot, where it was parked and cleaned. The group then left in a car rented by the elder Wiliams.
Despite the cleaning, Victim 1’s DNA and blood were later recovered from the lift gate, trunk carpeting, rear bumper, and a passenger side door frame.
On June 6, 2018, a search warrant was executed in Laurel, where law enforcement found large amounts of cocaine, marijuana, and meth, as well as three handguns, a rifle, and a physical copy of Victim 1’s ledger that had been hidden under the elder Williams’ bed.
In addition, between June 6, 2018 and his initial appearance in court in January 2019, the elder Williams aimed to destroy and hide evidence related to the investigation, including requesting that an unspecified associate delete evidence from a phone and the cloud.
Despite the arguments of the prosecution, the jury ruled there was not enough evidence to convict the two Williamses on the armed robbery and kidnapping charges.
Both father and son face a maximum sentence of 20 years each for possession of drugs with the intent to distribute, as well as for the charge of conspiracy to distribute said drugs.
The elder Williams alone faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, for possession of 500 grams of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.
In addition, he faces up to 20 years for conspiring to conceal and destroy evidence.
The father is scheduled for sentencing on Aug. 22, 2023, while the son is scheduled for Aug. 23, 2023.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.