The drug dealer involved in the actor's 2021 overdose death will serve time in prison.
The drug dealer who helped facilitate the fatal overdose of fentanyl-laced heroin that resulted in the 2021 death of The Wire star Michael K. Williams was sentenced to 30 months in prison, according to NBC News.
On Tuesday, Carlos Macci was among four men arrested on drug trafficking charges tied to the death of Williams. Macci was sentenced to 30 months in prison, plus three years of supervised release, with the first year in an inpatient drug treatment facility.
“I would like to say, your honor, I’m sorry for what has happened,” Macci said, according to the outlet.
David Simon, a co-creator of The Wire, wrote a three-page letter to the judge seeking mercy for Macci. Simon had a close relationship with Williams, who was open about his struggles with addiction.
"No possible good can come from incarcerating a (72-year-old) soul, largely illiterate, who has himself struggled with a lifetime of addiction and who has not engaged in street-level sales of narcotics with ambitions of success and profit but rather as someone caught up in the diaspora of addiction himself," Simon wrote.
"Michael would look at Mr. Macci and hope against hope that this moment in which he finds himself might prove redemptive, that his remaining years might amount to something more, and that by the grace of love and leniency, something humane and worthy might be rescued from the tragedy."
Williams' nephew, Dominic Dupont, spoke outside the courtroom after the sentencing came down. "Today was a sad day. There are no winners here," he said. "We lost an amazing human being."
Williams died on Sept. 6, 2021 after having consumed heroin laced with fentanyl, which he bought the previous day from a member of Macci’s crew in Brooklyn. The exchange was caught on a surveillance video and described by New York federal prosecutors in court filings. Williams was 54.
The actor, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, won critical acclaim for portraying the shotgun-wielding robber Omar Little on The Wire from 2002 to 2008. The Emmy-nominated actor went on to appear in several other HBO series, including Boardwalk Empire, in which he portrayed racketeer Chalky White.
Williams was laid to rest during a heartfelt service held at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Cathedral in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which also streamed on Facebook for fans of the actor to share in the emotional, private proceedings.
While Williams was born in Brooklyn, New York, his mother has lived in Harrisburg for more than 20 years, according to local news outlet The Patriot-News.
Hundreds of people attended the private service to pay their respects. Several of those in attendance were some of the actor's former co-stars and friends, including Queen Latifah and Simon.
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