Kalamazoo Man Sentenced to More Than 15 Years in Prison for Methamphetamine Trafficking Conspiracy
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – U.S. Attorney Mark Totten announced today that U.S. District Judge Paul L. Maloney sentenced Semaj Williams of Kalamazoo, Michigan to 188 months in prison for running a methamphetamine distribution operation. Judge Maloney also sentenced Williams to a five-year term of supervised release following his release from prison.
Williams spent years conspiring with others to sell methamphetamine in Kalamazoo and other locations throughout West Michigan. Over a period of four months in 2020, Williams supplied two dealers with ounces of methamphetamine on a daily basis and also supplied others. In March 2021, Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety officers stopped Williams with methamphetamine hidden at his feet in the backseat of a car. Overall, Judge Maloney found Williams responsible for distributing no less than five kilograms of methamphetamine. Judge Maloney also concluded that Williams had the highest-level criminal history category possible under the United States Sentencing Guidelines based on his previous convictions for assault with a dangerous weapon, home invasion, resisting police, and possession of controlled substances, among others.
While sentencing Williams, Judge Maloney emphasized the extremely serious nature of methamphetamine, noting methamphetamine is a “scourge in the Western District of Michigan.” Judge Maloney also found Williams to be a threat to the public, imposing a 188-month sentence in order to deter Williams from committing future drug-trafficking crimes while simultaneously deterring other would-be drug traffickers from dealing a deadly drug.
“Methamphetamine is a highly addictive and dangerous drug that is plaguing our communities,” commented U.S. Attorney Mark Totten. “Those, like Williams, who work with others to peddle this poison must be stopped.”
“Drug dealers are inherently dangerous and threaten the safety of our community. Williams’s sentencing and guilty plea send the message that violators will be held responsible for their actions,” stated Assistant Special Agent in Charge Craig Kailimai of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. “This case is an outstanding example of how working with our federal, state, tribal, and local partners protects our communities.”
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with important additional assistance provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Kalamazoo Valley Enforcement Team (a unit of the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety), Homeland Security Investigations, the Michigan State Police, the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office, and the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi Tribal Police. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie M. Carowan.
