NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle announced that On June 29, 2026, a federal jury found DONTE WILLIAMS (“WILLIAMS”) , age 32, guilty of possession of a firearm, in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(i), (Count Two). WILLIAMS also pled guilty, prior to trial, to possession, with the intent to distribute marijuana, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and taptendol, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(C) and (b)(1)(D) (Count One) and felon in possession of a firearm/ammunition, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(8) (Count Three).
On February 22, 2024, the New Orleans Police Department Special Operations Division conducted surveillance using both Real Time Crime Center cameras and physical surveillance. Officers observed WILLIAMS conducting a hand-to-hand drug transaction in the parking lot of a business at North Claiborne Ave. Further surveillance showed WILLIAMS walking across North Claiborne Avenue to his apartment before returning to the same parking lot and an adjacent store. Officers detained WILLIAMS and found that he was in possession of multiple bags of marijuana and over $2,000 in United States currency. Based on these observations of drug distribution activity, officers secured a search warrant for WILLIAMS’s residence. Officers opened the residence with keys taken from WILLIAMS’s person. Inside, officers recovered five firearms, three of which were loaded; additional ammunition; approximately one pound of marijuana; over 2,100 tapentadol pills; over 200 fentanyl pills, some of which were pressed to resemble the pharmaceutical Oxycodone, and over 25 grams of methamphetamine.
For Count One, WILLIAMS faces up to 20 years imprisonment, a fine of up to $1,000,000, and at least three years of supervised release. For Count Two, WILLIAMS faces between five years and up to life imprisonment, which term must run consecutively to any other term of imprisonment imposed, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to five years of supervised release. For Count Three, WILLIAMS faces up to 15 years imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release. WILLIAMS also faces payment of a $100 mandatory special assessment fee per count.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New Orleans Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Sarah Dawkins and David Berman of the Violent Crimes Unit are in charge of the prosecution.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
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Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office — Eastern District of Louisiana — U.S. Department of Justice press release.