Department of Justice

Orlando, Florida – A federal jury has found Valdez Williams (61, Altamonte Springs) guilty of one count of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon. Williams faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 15 years, and up to life, in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for December 28, 2020.

Williams had been indicted on November 20, 2019.

According to evidence presented at trial, during the execution of a search warrant at his apartment, law enforcement officers recovered a .380 caliber firearm and ammunition from a safe in Williams’s bedroom. The officers also found a plate of cocaine base and stolen property in the apartment. Williams admitted that he sold cocaine base and had purchased the stolen property, and he said that he had obtained the firearm for protection because his apartment had been burglarized about a month earlier.

Williams was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law both because he had prior felony convictions and because he was still on federal supervised released.

This case was investigated by the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Daniel P. Jancha and Karen L. Gable.

This is another case prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program (PSN), which is a nationwide, crime reduction strategy aimed at decreasing violent crime in communities. It involves a comprehensive approach to public safety — one that includes investigating and prosecuting crimes, along with prevention and reentry efforts. In the Middle District of Florida, U.S. Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez coordinates PSN efforts in cooperation with various federal, state, and local law enforcement officials.

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