New Orleans Couple Sentenced for Drugs, Firearms and Obstruction Charges

Acting U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that GROSS WILLIAMS, age 49, and his wife, KATHLEEN WILLIAMS, age 47, both of New Orleans, were sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt.

GROSS WILLIAMS had previously pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute a kilogram or more of heroin and five kilograms or more of cocaine, as well as illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. GROSS WILLIAMS was sentenced to 276 months imprisonment on the drug conspiracy and 120 months on the gun charge, to run concurrently. He was also fined $20,000 and placed on ten years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment.

KATHLEEN WILLIAMS had previously pled guilty to obstruction of justice for destroying a cellular phone used by GROSS WILLIAMS in his drug dealing activity. KATHLEEN WILLIAMS was sentenced to four years of probation, with the initial nine months to be on house arrest.

According to court documents, GROSS WILLIAMS was a large-scale narcotics dealer. He operated a used car business in Arabi that served as a cover and means of laundering his drug proceeds. Law enforcement officers seized over $425,000 in cash and a .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol from the WILLIAMS’ bedroom during a search, and later discovered another $240,000 in cash in a safe deposit box that KATHLEEN WILLIAMS had opened in her name. Through a detailed financial investigation, law enforcement was able to show that GROSS WILLIAMS deposited hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash into the bank accounts of his used car business despite selling only a few midrange models each year. KATHLEEN WILLIAMS also admitted that she destroyed her husband’s “dope phone” the day that he was arrested.

Acting U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office, the New Orleans Police Department, and Louisiana Probation and Parole, in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorneys David Haller and Hayden Brockett were in charge of the prosecution.