Defendant Was Convicted of Similar Offense in 2010
WASHINGTON - LaQuinn Williams, 68, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to two months of incarceration, to be followed by a month of home confinement, for selling commercial grade fireworks/explosives, announced U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Williams pled guilty in January 2017, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to transport or receipt of explosive materials by a prohibited person. He was sentenced by the Honorable Randolph D. Moss. Upon completion of his prison term, Williams will be placed on three years of supervised release.
According to the government’s evidence, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) received a tip in 2015 that an associate of Williams was selling illegal fireworks. An MPD task force officer assigned to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) conducted an undercover purchase of commercial grade fireworks. The investigation continued, and Williams and his associate were arrested on June 8, 2015, when Williams showed up in a van in Northeast Washington for a second anticipated sale of commercial grade fireworks, similar to those used in pyrotechnic fireworks shows. At the time, Williams had 63.7 pounds of illegal explosives that, if ignited, could blow up his vehicle and surrounding vehicles. Upon seizing the items, ATF had an expert in the handling of explosives remove them from the vehicle, to be stored in an underground facility pending resolution of the case.
Williams earlier had pled guilty in July 2010, also in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to a charge of conspiracy to deal in explosive materials. In that case, he accepted responsibility for 300 pounds of display grade fireworks, one of the largest amounts of explosives ever recovered by ATF in a residence in the District of Columbia. In that case, Williams acknowledged under oath [i]f not properly handled and/or shot into the air, or if intentionally exploded while on the ground," the explosives could be “dangerous or lethal."
ATF has jurisdiction over these highly regulated and dangerous explosives that regularly result in injuries to members of the community if misused or mishandled.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Phillips and Chief Newsham commended the work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Metropolitan Police Department. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Candace Battle and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Macchiaroli, who prosecuted the matter.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
