Carlos Macci, one of the four individuals charged in connection with Michael K. Williams’ 2021 fentanyl-based overdose and death, has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison. The 71-year-old defendant has been jailed since his arrest in February 2022. In April, he pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess and distribute narcotics, per Entertainment Weekly.
Multiple people close to Williams asked for compassion in Macci’s case over the course of the trial, due to the fact that the drug dealer is himself a victim of addiction. Williams’ nephew Dominic Dupont weighed in, asking the judge for leniency. “It weighs heavy on me to see someone be in a situation he’s in,” said Dupont. “I understand what it is to be system impacted,” per the Associated Press.
Earlier this month, David Simon—creator of The Wire and a close personal friend of Williams’—submitted a three-page letter as a part of the filing on Macci’s behalf. In part of his appeal, the former Baltimore crime reporter wrote:
What happened to Mike is a grievous tragedy… But I know that Michael would look upon the undone and desolate life of Mr. Macci and know two things with certainty: First, that it was Michael who bears the fuller responsibility for what happened. [Second] no possible good can come from incarcerating a 71-year-old soul, largely illiterate, who has himself struggled with a lifetime of addiction.
When passing down the sentence, U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams told Macci that selling both heroin and fentanyl “not only cost Mr. Williams his life, but it’s costing your freedom,” partly because Macci continued to distribute after the actor’s death. Abrams also referred to the approximately 3,000 fatal overdoses that occurred in New York City just last year (per AP), taking the lives of many who did not know their substances were laced with fentanyl.
Still, the appeals seem to have had an effect. As AP notes, federal sentencing guidelines could have led to a sentence of up to 20 years in prison for Macci.
