Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

BATON ROUGE, LA –U.S. Attorney Walt Green announced that U.S. District Judge Shelly D. Dick sentenced CHRIS E. WILLIAMS, age 28, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, yesterday to 270 months imprisonment and 5 years of supervised release following imprisonment for his role in a home invasion conspiracy aimed at stealing 12 kilograms of cocaine and killing anyone that stood in the way.

The defendant’s sentence arises from his guilty pleas in January 2014 for conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute five (5) kilograms or more of cocaine, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 846; possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A); and possessing a firearm while a convicted felon, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g)(1).

Under the federal sentencing guidelines, the defendant’s sentence was enhanced based on his status as a career offender. The defendant was afforded that status based on having 3 prior felony adult convictions for crimes of violence, along with 8 other convictions.

U.S. Attorney Green praised the hard work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and the East Baton Rouge Violent Crimes Unit. He also stated: “The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our federal, state, and local partners will continue to devote whatever resources are necessary to aggressively identify, investigate, and prosecute those violent career offenders who plague our streets, threaten our families, and destroy our neighborhoods.”

This investigation was conducted by the ATF and the East Baton Rouge Violent Crimes Unit which includes the Baton Rouge Police Department, East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office, and Louisiana State Police. The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Kleinpeter who also serves as a Deputy Chief in the Criminal Division.

###