Drug Dealer Gets 30 Month Prison Sentencing for Involvement In Michael K. Williams’ Death

A drug dealer has received a prison sentence of nearly two years after the death of actor Michael K. Williams. On Tuesday (July 25), 72-year-old Carlos Macci was given a term of 2-and-a-half years by U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams in a Manhattan courtroom. According to AP, Abrams told Macci that selling Williams a lethal combination of heroin and fentanyl, “not only cost Mr. Williams his life, but it’s costing your freedom,” as Macci and three other defendants continued to sell drugs after the actor’s death.

“I would like to say, your honor, I’m sorry for what has happened,” Macci said. Following his prison sentence, Macci will serve three years of supervised release, with the first year being an inpatient in a drug treatment facility. In April. Macci pleaded guilty to charges that included intent to distribute narcotics and conspiring to possess.

In September 2021, Williams, 54, was found dead at his home in Brooklyn. The actor was known for his critically-acclaimed roles on former HBO shows The Wire, Boardwalk Empire and Lovecraft Country. On the day prior to his death, Williams purchased the substance from a member of Macci’s crew in Brooklyn, with the exchange being caught on surveillance video and detailed by New York federal prosecutors in court filings.

Prior to his conviction, federal prosecutors asked the judge to sentence Macci to at least four years. David Simon, creator of The Wire, wrote a three-page letter in support of Macci, as Williams openly spoke to the author and screenwriter about his struggles with addiction.

"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,” Simon wrote.

Williams’ final appearance was in the 2023 film Surrounded.