HSI Baltimore investigation lands father and son in prison for drug trafficking conspiracy

GREENBELT, Md. — An investigation conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore, the Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington, D.C. and the Maryland State Police, with help from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, resulted in a 23-year federal prison sentence for Scott Anthony Williams, 45, of Laurel, and a 12-year, six-month sentence for Taeyan Raymond Williams, 26, of Morgantown, West Virginia. Each sentence will be followed by five years of supervised release. The father and son were sentenced in the U.S. District court for the District of Maryland in Greenbelt on Aug. 24.for their roles in a drug trafficking conspiracy and for possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.

The investigation revealed that Scott Williams also attempted to destroy and conceal evidence related to his crimes and that both men knew of, took advantage of and profited from the murder of their marijuana supplier.

According to the investigation, from approximately October 2017 until April 2018, the victim sold and distributed marijuana and marijuana products to Scott Williams, Taeyan Williams, their family members and their associates. The conspirators sold the products they received from the victim to other distributors for resale and to drug users. The defendants also sold and distributed cocaine to the victim for further distribution.

The investigation revealed that because of various transactions between the defendants and the victim, the co-conspirators and members of their family became indebted to the victim. In April 2018, the victim planned to meet with the conspirators to discuss the debt that they owed to the victim, and to provide the pair with marijuana and marijuana products.

As detailed in the investigation, shortly before that meeting, the victim’s supplier in California had a large shipment of marijuana and marijuana products delivered to the victim’s storage unit in Jessup. On April 5 and 6, 2018, the victim retrieved controlled substances from that storage unit and stayed at a short-term rental property in Baltimore.

On the afternoon of April 6, the victim traveled from Baltimore to Laurel, where Scott Williams lived. Location data reflects that at 1:32 p.m., the victim was approximately 1.5 miles from Scott Williams’ residence. On April 6, 2018, at approximately 1:52 p.m., the victim saved a note to a ledger and accounting of marijuana that the victim sold to Taeyan Williams and monies paid or owed from him, which the victim maintained in his email account.

The evidence uncovered in the investigation showed that on April 7, 2018, the conspirators drove the victim’s vehicle to a Baltimore parking lot where they parked the vehicle and cleaned it, then drove away in Scott Williams’ rented car.

The victim’s DNA and blood were later recovered from the rear bumper, lift gate, passenger side door frame and trunk carpeting of the victim’s abandoned vehicle. The evidence showed that between 8:37 p.m. on April 6 and 8:31 p.m. on April 8, 2018, someone in Scott Williams’ rented car used the victim’s PIN to enter the Jessup storage facility.

The investigation showed that between April 8 and June 6, 2018, the defendants hid the victim’s drugs in Scott Williams’ home in Laurel. When law enforcement officials executed a search warrant at the home on June 6, they recovered large quantities of marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine, as well as a 9mm handgun, a 7.62-caliber rifle, a .38-caliber handgun and a .25-caliber handgun. Authorities also discovered a copy of the victim’s ledger under Scott Williams’ bed in the home. The victim’s body was never located.

Authorities determined that that the victim’s death was connected to the Williams’ drug conspiracy, that the pair knew of the killing, and that they took advantage of the situation by stealing the victim’s marijuana and profiting from it.

Finally, the investigation proved that between June 2018 and his initial appearance on federal charges in January 2019, Scott Williams sought to conceal and destroy evidence related to the ongoing investigation, including by asking an associate to delete information from his electronic storage account and phone.

HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.