Roosevelt Williams, a/k/a “Mumsie,” 59, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for flooding Poughkeepsie, New York, with a deadly batch of heroin that sparked a wave of fatal and non-fatal overdoses. U.S. District Court Judge Nelson S. Román handed down the sentence in White Plains federal court, ordering the forfeiture of over $100,000 in drug proceeds and property seized from Williams’s home.
Williams, alongside co-conspirator Tony Reynolds, 58, dealt a highly potent heroin brand stamped ‘Empire’—a name that became synonymous with danger on the streets of Poughkeepsie. According to court filings, the pair distributed the drug almost daily between November and December 2015, even as word spread about its lethal strength. Users knew ‘Empire’ carried a death sentence in every bag, but Williams kept selling.
Law enforcement conducted five controlled buys of ‘Empire’ heroin during the investigation, each facilitated by either Williams or Reynolds. Agents later raided Williams’s residence, recovering more than $100,000 in cash and two firearms. Reynolds was sentenced on November 10, 2016, to 13 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $5,000 in drug proceeds, also by Judge Román.
“Roosevelt Williams sold what became notorious in and around Poughkeepsie as a highly potent brand of heroin. And even as overdoses from Williams’s heroin grew, he continued to sell,” said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. “For his cold-hearted drug dealing that contributed to the devastation of heroin abuse in our communities, the Court has handed down a stiff sentence of 12 years in prison.”
The ‘Empire’ heroin surge left a trail of bodies and shattered families. Prosecutors emphasized that the brand’s potency made it especially deadly, with users often unaware of the dose they were injecting. Despite mounting evidence of harm, Williams showed no remorse, pushing the poison for profit until federal agents shut him down.
Mr. Bharara credited the DEA and the Dutchess County Drug Task Force for their relentless work on the case. The prosecutions are being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Burns, Maurene Comey, and Douglas Zolkind from the Office’s White Plains Division. The sentence sends a warning: sell death, do hard time.
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Key Facts
- State: New York
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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