A drug dealer connected to the death of famous actor Michael K. Williams received a prison sentence of 30 months Wednesday.
In addition to 2.5 years behind bars, U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams ordered 72-year-old Carlos Macci to serve three years of supervised release, according to NBC News. The first year must be served in an in-patient drug treatment facility. Williams died of an accidental fentanyl overdose in his Brooklyn apartment on Sept. 6, 2021. He was 54 years old.
Dealer tied to Michael K. Williams overdose death gets lenient prison sentence after plea from ‘The Wire’ creator https://t.co/HGSoErOA38 pic.twitter.com/nMf2cDMwhU
— New York Post (@nypost) July 25, 2023
New York prosecutors sought at least a four-year sentence against Macci, the outlet reported, citing court filings.
David Simon co-created the movie “The Wire,” which starred the late Williams. He wrote a three-page letter to the judge seeking leniency for Macci, according to NBC.
“No possible good can come from incarcerating a (72-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 himself,” the letter reads.
Macci’s lawyer, Benjamin Zeman, echoed Simon’s wishes and requested a “sentence of time served” in light of Macci’s age and his “hardscrabble background,” NBC reported.
Judge Abrams acknowledged Macci’s past but remained steadfast in her ruling. She addressed Macci in court, saying that selling drugs “not only cost Mr. Williams his life, but it’s costing you your freedom,” according to NBC.
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Macci also reportedly addressed the courtroom. “I would like to say, your honor, I’m sorry for what has happened,” he said.
Macci is one of four men who formed the drug-trafficking organization that sold Williams the fentanyl-laced heroin that resulted in the actor’s death, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York. The group reportedly includes Irvin Cartagena, Hector Robles and Luis Cruz, all of whom have been arrested and charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl analogue, fentanyl and heroin. All four men entered guilty pleas, and Robles and Cruz await sentencing, according to the New York Post. (RELATED: Famous Actress Reveals She Had A Near-Death Medical Crisis)
Williams was an Emmy-nominated actor known for his roles in “The Wire,” “Boardwalk Empire” and his last film, “Breaking.”