CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Today, Chief U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney sentenced Lavon Williams, 38, of Jamaica, New York, to 292 months in prison on charges of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and conspiracy to commit money laundering, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. In addition to the prison term imposed, Williams was also ordered to serve eight years of supervised release after he is released from prison, and to pay a money judgment of $1.5 million for the value of the marijuana involved in the conspiracy.
U.S. Attorney Rose is joined in making today’s announcement by Nick Annan, Special Agent in Charge of ICE/Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Atlanta and the Carolinas, and Chief Kerr Putney of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD).
According to filed documents and court proceedings, from October 2014 to February 2015, Williams transported more than 880 pounds of marijuana and drug proceeds from San Francisco to Charlotte via commercial aircrafts. Court records indicate that, over the course of the conspiracy, Williams flew at least 11 times, and carried approximately 40 pounds of marijuana each trip. Court records show that on February 4, 2015, Williams’ co-conspirator, Thajuan Brown, was arrested at Charlotte Douglas International Airport with 46 pounds of marijuana. Evidence recovered from that investigation linked Williams to the drug trafficking conspiracy. On Feb. 10, 2015, law enforcement arrested Williams with $40,000 in drug proceeds at the San Francisco airport.
Two remaining defendants are fugitives wanted by law enforcement. They are: Pierre Buissereth, 35, of New York. and Toccara Quantavia King, 35, of Virginia. Anyone with information about Buissereth or King are asked to contact the Homeland Security Investigations office at 704-679-6140.
This prosecution is part of an investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). OCDETF is a joint federal, state and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.
The investigation was led by HSI and CMPD. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven R. Kaufman coordinated the investigation and prosecution of this OCDETF operation.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
