Date: 08-07-2024

Case Style:

United States of America v. Racoco Williams

Case Number:

Judge: Joy Flowers Conti

Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

Plaintiff's Attorney: The United States Attorney’s Office for Pittsburgh

Defendant's Attorney:

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Description:

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with federal “Kingpin” statute for leading a continuing criminal enterprise, as well as federal offenses involving cocaine trafficking, racketeering, and money laundering
Recidivist Large-Scale Drug Trafficker Sentenced to Life in Prison Following Conviction at Trial for Violating Federal Kingpin Statute

A Jamaican national was sentenced in federal court on August 6, 2024, to life imprisonment for his conviction on six counts, including violating the federal “Kingpin” statute for leading a continuing criminal enterprise, as well as federal offenses involving cocaine trafficking, racketeering, and money laundering, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today.

Senior United States District Judge Joy Flowers Conti imposed the sentence on Racoco Williams, 43. A Pittsburgh jury found Williams guilty of the six counts in September 2023 following a three-week trial.

Evidence introduced at trial established that Williams, who is originally from Jamaica, was the leader of a large-scale drug trafficking organization that distributed more than 150 kilograms of cocaine between 2012 and 2018. Williams obtained cocaine from near the Southwest border through a base of operations in Phoenix, Arizona. He then arranged to transport the cocaine to various cities on the east coast of the United States, including Charlotte, North Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; New York City; and Pittsburgh. Although he relied on a variety of methods for transporting bulk cocaine, he regularly used young women—including a 16-year-old—as couriers, directing them to travel by bus or on domestic airlines with checked luggage filled with drugs. Williams then used many of these same women, who often faced dire financial circumstances, to transport cash proceeds of his cocaine trafficking back to Phoenix concealed in secret compartments in suitcases. To ensure the couriers’ obedience, Williams threatened them with violence, including threatening to kill one courier and her entire family if she cooperated with law enforcement.

“Racoco Williams orchestrated a years-long, cross-country drug trafficking and money laundering organization that distributed hundreds of kilograms of cocaine in various cities throughout the country, including communities in this district,” said U.S. Attorney Olshan. “Williams stayed behind the scenes, using couriers to transport bulk cocaine and cash to fuel his enterprise, and he maintained obedience through threats of violence, including a threat to kill a courier and her family. This prosecution makes clear yet again that our office and our law enforcement partners, here and across the country, are dedicated to identifying the most dangerous offenders and holding them accountable to the fullest extent of federal law.”

“This sentence is the culmination of years of investigative and prosecutorial work, diligence, and expertise,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge of HSI Philadelphia Sara Bay. “As a result of this investigation, special agents and prosecutors were able to dismantle a vicious transnational drug trafficking organization and free the young women who Racoco Williams controlled through threats of violence. The partnership that HSI Pittsburgh has developed with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania is truly remarkable and continues to work to ensure the safety of communities in western Pennsylvania.”

During the conspiracy, Williams was associated with multiple seizures involving large quantities of drugs, cash, and jewelry, with a total of approximately $895,000 in cash seized from Williams and his associates throughout the investigation. In 2012, for example, a search of the home he used for a drug transaction revealed $337,000 in cash concealed in secret compartments in eight suitcases. Although he pleaded guilty to assisting a criminal syndicate and received a sentence of two years of probation, Williams’s drug trafficking continued unabated. In 2014, he was again arrested in Arizona, and a search of two suitcases in his vehicle revealed approximately $160,000 in cash.

Evidence at trial further established significant trafficking activity in 2017. In April of that year, a search of an acquaintance’s home in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, uncovered six kilograms of cocaine and $78,500 in cash. Williams previously had arranged for a courier to travel with the same suitcase filled with cocaine from Las Vegas two days earlier. Less than a month later, in May 2017, a traffic stop by the Swissvale Police and later search of Williams’s car and hotel room revealed approximately $120,000 in cash and valuable jewelry. About three months later, a search of Williams’s Monroeville, Pennsylvania, hotel room revealed 17 kilograms of cocaine concealed in two suitcases, and approximately $192,000 in cash and $150,000 in jewelry concealed in another suitcase. Williams’s cross-country operation involved other individuals, including co-conspirators working out of the Penn Hills area of Pennsylvania who distributed cocaine supplied by Williams.

The evidence presented at trial further established that, even after he was incarcerated, Williams continued to arrange for shipments of cocaine from Phoenix to the Pittsburgh area. One such shipment in March 2018 comprised five kilograms of cocaine concealed inside a BMW sport utility vehicle on a car carrier destined for Pittsburgh that was seized by Arizona law enforcement officials. At trial, the jury further concluded that approximately $400,000 in cash, $200,000 worth of jewelry, and that BMW sport utility vehicle were forfeitable to the government.

Assistant United States Attorneys Brendan T. Conway and Karen Gal-Or prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

United States Attorney Olshan commended Homeland Security Investigations and the Pennsylvania State Police for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Williams. Numerous other law enforcement agencies and departments in Pennsylvania and Arizona assisted in the investigation, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Allegheny County Police Department, Swissvale Police Department, Arizona Department of Public Safety, Maricopa County (Arizona) Sheriff’s Office, and Yavapai County (Arizona) Sheriff’s Office.

Outcome:

Defendant was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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