Jason R. Coody, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida
Bertram Williams, a 50-year-old resident of Marianna, Florida, has pleaded guilty in federal court to introducing contraband into the Federal Detention Center (FDC) in Tallahassee. The announcement was made by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
U.S. Attorney Heekin stated: “I want to commend the outstanding work by our federal law enforcement partners to stop this offender before he could bring illegal contraband into the federal prison where he was already serving a criminal sentence. Thanks to this successful prosecution by my office, he will now have an extended stay behind bars.”
Court records indicate that Williams is currently incarcerated at FDC Tallahassee. On April 13, 2025, following a visitation session, Bureau of Prison staff conducted a search and found two cylinder-shaped plastic tubs concealed in the cut fingertips of a latex glove inside Williams’s left boot. One container held marijuana; the other contained a rolled-up piece of paper saturated with a substance that tested positive for synthetic marijuana. Subsequent testing at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement laboratory confirmed that one substance was marijuana.
Williams could face up to five years in prison and one year of supervised release at sentencing.
The investigation involved cooperation between several agencies: the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Jessica Etherton and Eric W. Welch are prosecuting the case.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is among 94 offices serving as principal litigators under direction from the Attorney General. More information about public court documents can be found on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website or through http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.
