Dealer Involved in Michael K. Williams Overdose Case Sentenced to 30 Months

A man who was part of the crew that sold Michael K. Williams a mix of heroin and fentanyl, which he consumed before dying of an overdose, has been sentenced to 30 months in prison. 

Carlos Macci, 71, pleaded guilty to narcotics conspiracy in federal court in April. Judge Ronnie Abrams handed down the sentence Tuesday. 

“Selling drugs like heroin and fentanyl not only cost Mr. Williams his life but is costing you your freedom,” Abrams told Macci.

Macci was part of a crew that sold drugs in Williamsburg, Brooklyn according to court documents, which allege the group sold Williams “fentanyl-laced heroin” on Sept. 5, 2021, which the actor, who starred in HBO’s The Wire, then died from taking. He was 54. 

Through a Spanish translator Macci told the court, “I’m sorry for what has happened.” 

Macci is one of four men who were charged with narcotics conspiracy tied to Williams’ death. The others, Irvin Cartagena, Luiz Cruz, and Hector Robles also pleaded guilty in April. 

Macci’s lawyer, Benjamin Zeman, told the court Macci has been trapped in a cycle of drug addiction for decades and that an additional prison term “will not help Mr. Macci, it will not help Mr. Williams and it certainly will not help prevent the next overdose.” 

U.S attorney Micah Fergenson said Macci has received time served for his last four offences, but that they did not deter him from using and selling drugs. He also argued that prison could be “beneficial” to Macci by keeping him away from using drugs.

Abrams said this sentencing was “especially hard” because she agreed with arguments from both sides. She acknowledged the personal and societal harms of mass incarceration but said she had a responsibility to protect the public. 

“After heroin-laced fentanyl killed Williams, Macci continued selling heroin laced with fentanyl,” she said. But she told Macci he still had an opportunity to define himself “in a positive way.” 

Following his prison sentence, Macci will have three years of supervised release, including one year in inpatient rehab.

Williams’ nephew Dominic Dupont also spoke at the hearing.

“Michael K. Williams was a person who believed in love, who believed in an opportunity for people to get themselves together,” he said. His voice caught when he recalled calling his grandmother to inform her of Williams’ death.  

He said Macci’s situation “weighs heavily on me,” and said accountability and empathy can co-exist.

After the hearing was over, he said his uncle was an “amazing human being.”

“There are no winners here,” he said. 

Williams was found dead in his apartment on September 6, 2021, with drugs and related paraphernalia on a table inside. Several unopened glassines, or bags, of drugs were later tested and came back positive for heroin, fentanyl, para-flurofentanyl (a fentanyl analogue), and the animal tranquilizer xylazine—one of the key components of tranq dope, which is spreading around the U.S., causing users to develop horrible skin wounds. Some of the residue found at Williams’ apartment additionally tested positive for cocaine. 

Screenshots taken from surveillance footage showed Cartagena handing Williams something on September 5. In a subsequent controlled buy from the informant, which was audio recorded, the informant asked if the men were selling the same batch of drugs that Williams consumed. According to a sworn affidavit from New York police detective Mark Gurleski, Cruz responded, “What you think that it has -- ah, ah, ah, ah -- fentanyl and shit? We don’t, don’t fuck with that.” 

The baggies purchased did contain fentanyl, police said. 

Williams, an acclaimed actor who played Omar Little in The Wire and Albert White on Boardwalk Empire, had spoken publicly about his struggles with addiction, telling the New York Times, “it’s an everyday struggle for me, but I’m fighting” in 2017. He also shared those experiences in his VICE TV series Black Market, which explored various underground economies around the world. 

In a letter to Judge Abrams, The Wire creator David Simon, pleaded for leniency for Macci, noting that the show was a critique of drug prohibition and “the human cost underlying those policies.” 

“Michael always declared that he was responsible for himself, that his decision whether to use or to cease using would always be his own,” Simon wrote, noting that Williams was publicly opposed to mass incarceration and believed in restorative justice. 

He said Williams’ position would be that “no possible good can come from incarcerating a 71-year-old soul, largely illiterate, who has himself struggled with a lifetime of addiction and who has not engaged in street-level sales of narcotics with ambitions of success and profit but rather as someone caught up in the diaspora of addiction.” 

Williams would want Macci to take this opportunity to find redemption, he added. 

He said while working on the show’s third season, Williams opened up about his addiction, and a crew member stayed with him to help keep him from being tempted to use drugs. 

“We became aware of a deep and abiding loneliness that had long accompanied Mike on his journey,” Simon said. 

The cases against Williams’ dealers come amid a wider movement to prosecute fentanyl suppliers more aggressively, in some cases charging them with murder, or handing down extremely lengthy prison sentences. 

However, drug policy experts have previously told VICE News these harsh punishments can exacerbate the overdose crisis by making people witnessing an overdose more fearful of calling authorities. 

A report from the Health in Justice Action Lab found that overdoses increase by nearly 8 percent following media coverage of drug-induced homicide cases.