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Judge sentences man connected to overdose death of actor Michael K. Williams to 2.5 years
By
Samantha Max
Published Jul 25, 2023
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By
Samantha Max
Published Jul 25, 2023
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A federal judge tasked with imposing punishment on the first of four men to be sentenced in connection with the overdose death of actor Michael K. Williams walked a middle line Tuesday between prosecutors’ requests for a long prison sentence and the actor’s loved ones’ pleas for leniency and treatment.
Judge Ronnie Abrams sentenced Carlos Macci to two-and-half years in prison and three years on supervised release. One of those years will be in inpatient drug treatment.
Williams’ nephew, Dominic Dupont, called it “a challenging day for anybody who loved Michael.”
“There are no winners here,” he said after the hearing.
But he added: “I believe that accountability and responsibility can live in the same space as empathy.”
Just before 2:30 p.m., Macci entered the courtroom in a khaki jail uniform, hunched over with a chain wrapped around his stomach, hands cuffed in front of him. He was mostly silent during the hearing, listening to headphones as an interpreter quietly translated the proceedings into Spanish.
When asked if he had anything to say, Macci quietly uttered one sentence.
“I would like to say, your honor, I’m sorry for what has happened,” the interpreter repeated in English.
Prosecutors have said Williams fatally overdosed on heroin laced with fentanyl that he bought on the street in Williamsburg in September 2021. Four men, including Macci, have pleaded guilty to federal drug conspiracy charges. Macci is the first to face sentencing.
Williams starred in the acclaimed TV show “The Wire,” playing Omar Little, a character who challenged stereotypes about the drug trade in Baltimore. The Brooklyn native, whose acting credits include a long list of other roles in award-winning shows and movies, also dedicated much of his life to advocating for criminal justice reform.
Federal prosecutors asked the judge to impose a sentence of at least four years, noting in court papers that Macci has sold deadly drugs for years, even after being convicted on state charges in the past. They argued that sending Macci to prison was necessary to deter future drug sales and to protect the public, as overdose deaths surge across the country. In court, they also suggested that time in prison could help Macci to kick his own drug addiction.
“It’s the unusual case where the lengthy incarceration might actually have some benefits,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Micah Fergenson.
Probation officers requested an even longer 10-year sentence, according to court records. Macci’s defense attorney asked for the time he has already served in jail to count as his full sentence, meaning that he wouldn’t have to spend any more time behind bars.
Defense, friends plead for leniency
Macci is in his 70s, has cognitive impairments and is addicted to drugs, according to a sentencing memorandum his defense attorney submitted to the judge. He dropped out of school in Puerto Rico after second grade and never learned to read or write, his attorney said.
“If I would have learned to read and write, why would I have wanted to sell drugs?” Macci told a mitigation expert hired by the defense. “If I would have learned to read I would have become either an engineer or an attorney.”
Macci was abandoned by his teenage mother after his father died in a car accident when he was a baby, the memo states, and his grandmother raised him in a small house with 30 relatives. After she died, according to the memo, Macci moved to New York City in 1971 and worked at a fabric dyeing factory for about seven years. He started selling drugs when the factory shut down.
Macci told the mitigation expert he would have rather kept his job at the factory for the rest of his life.
“I got laid off and I needed money, so that’s how I started selling drugs,” he said. “I saw people selling drugs in my block all the time. They were doing well, and I asked one of them if I could help him selling. It was easy money.”
In a neuropsychological evaluation conducted in April, Macci told a psychologist he didn’t know the name of his attorney or why he was in jail. He struggled to hear or understand instructions, even in his native Spanish, according to the evaluation.
“His demeanor was amiable and courteous, and he attempted to use simple humor as a palliative for his anxiety,” psychologist Leo J. Shea wrote.
The results of the assessment, including Macci’s intellectual functioning and processing speed, were redacted.
Several of Williams’ friends and colleagues have asked for mercy, not just for Macci but also for the three additional men charged in the case. They point to Williams’ criticisms of mass incarceration and his nonprofit work with vulnerable youth in Brooklyn.
Irvin Cartagena, Hector Robles and Luiz Cruz will be sentenced later this year. Their defense attorneys declined to comment on their cases.
In an off-the-cuff and at times emotional speech during the hearing, Dupont did not ask for either a lenient or a harsh sentence but said there needed to be a balance between Macci getting help and taking responsibility for selling drugs that could kill someone.
He paused to catch his breath as he recounted the moment he had to call Williams’ mother to tell her that her son was dead.
Dupont, an advocate for prison reform who served two decades behind bars after he was sentenced to 25 years for second-degree murder when he was 19, said he hoped Macci would think about where he went wrong and how he could improve himself.
“If you’re not dead, then you’re not done,” he said. “Every day is an opportunity.”
Tagged
public safety
brooklyn
Samantha Max
Samantha reports on whether New Yorkers feel safe and whether the institutions that are supposed to protect them are working. Before coming to WNYC/Gothamist, she spent three years covering the criminal justice system in Tennessee for Nashville Public Radio. Her reporting on Nashville's police department received multiple awards, including the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize. Samantha was also part of the inaugural class of Report for America, a service journalism program that sends up-and-coming reporters to local newsrooms across the country. She is a Northwestern University grad, a Baltimore native and fluent in Spanish. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal: samanthamaxwnyc.93.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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