Donnell Leroy Williams, Fentanyl Conspiracy, Virginia 2024

Alexandria, Va. – A Maryland man, identified as the leader of a fentanyl conspiracy, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in distributing the highly addictive drug in the Washington, DC area.

Donnell Leroy Williams, 55, aka Bubbles, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton for his involvement in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, along with his co-conspirators, Antonio Donnell Shelton, 30, aka Little Bubbles, James Coleman Brown, 51, and Demetrius Antonio Johnson, 37, aka Bake.

According to court documents, during the course of the conspiracy, Williams and his co-conspirators had the ability to obtain large quantities of fentanyl and sold it, along with other highly addictive drugs, to customers at locations in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC.

Williams, a Hyattsville, Maryland resident, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

His co-conspirators, Antonio Shelton, James Brown, and Demetrius Johnson, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Shelton was sentenced to 6 years in prison, Brown to 13 years, and Johnson to 6 years.

The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN), a program aimed at reducing violent crime and making neighborhoods safer. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and the Fairfax County Police Department worked together to bring the case to justice.

U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office Nancy McNamara, and Fairfax County Chief of Police Edwin C. Roessler Jr. made the announcement after the sentencing. Assistant U.S. Attorneys J. Tyler McGaughey and David A. Peters prosecuted the case.

A copy of the press release is available on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, along with related court documents and information on the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:18-cr-30.

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