Two from Tallahassee sentenced in major drug trafficking case involving pressed pills
Two people from Tallahassee will serve prison sentences after a major drug bust by the Leon County Sheriff’s Office in August revealed they were trafficking Ecstasy, cocaine and methamphetamine.
In a hearing Monday in Leon County Circuit Court, Jeffrey Williams and Charice Williams pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and related charges.
Jeffrey Williams pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking phenethylamines, conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine, trafficking in methamphetamine, use of a two-way device, trafficking cocaine, possession of a pill press, tampering with evidence, maintaining a drug house, fleeing or eluding at high speed and a felon in possession of a firearm.
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He was sentenced to 10 years in prison with seven- and three-year mandatory minimum sentences.
Charice Williams pleaded guilty to a count of trafficking cocaine and conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine. She was sentenced to five years in prison.
The Williamses were prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution after they were arrested in August by LCSO’s Narcotics Unit, the North Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area CADRE Initiative.
The investigation, dubbed Operation Full Press, utilized undercover buyers and wiretaps.
"In one encounter with law enforcement, Jeffrey Williams attempted to flee from a traffic stop — throwing bags of illegal narcotics out of the window during the process," according to a news release announcing the sentences.
Detectives seized over 10,000 pressed MDMA-type pills, more than 4 pounds of methamphetamine, approximately 222 grams of pressed pills believed to contain fentanyl, approximately 6 ounces of cocaine, two tablet pressing machines, one rifle and one handgun, in addition to multiple other items of drug paraphernalia related to the manufacturing and distribution of illegal narcotics.
Attorney general Ashley Moody noted the growing issue with counterfeit pills and the threat they present to the public.
“Counterfeit pills are a growing problem in this country, and even though these traffickers did not face charges related to illicit fentanyl, they still posed a major threat to the public,” Moody said in a press release announcing the prison sentences. “I am thankful for all the hard work by my Statewide Prosecutors and law enforcement to ensure these drug traffickers are behind bars where they belong—unable to harm Floridians.”
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Two from Tallahassee sentenced in pressed pills drug trafficking case
