Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Madison, Wis. - John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Paul Williams, 29, Chicago, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 78 months in prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Williams pleaded guilty to this charge on July 24, 2015.

Williams was arrested on October 9, 2014, after a high speed police chase in Madison, which ended when his car crashed into a tree on the east side. Williams fled the scene of the crash, running through yards in a residential area and entering a home on North Lawn Avenue, where he assaulted a homeowner as they tried to notify police of his location. As he fled the home, he was apprehended by Madison police officers. Police found a Glock 9mm pistol on the driver’s floorboard of the car that Williams crashed into the tree.

Williams was charged and convicted in Dane County Circuit Court of second degree reckless endangering safety for the flight from police, as well as intimidating a victim by use of force, and battery for the assault on the homeowner. He was sentenced in February 2015 to four years in state prison. Judge Conley ordered that the federal sentence for the firearm charge run concurrently to the state prison time.

In 2006, Williams was convicted in Dane County Circuit Court of possession of cocaine and marijuana with intent to deliver. Under federal law, he was not allowed to possess a firearm due to this felony conviction.

The charge against Paul Williams was the result of an investigation conducted by the Madison Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The prosecution of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Anderson.

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