Racoco Williams, aged 41, has been found guilty of six counts, including leading a continuing criminal enterprise, as well as additional narcotics, conspiracy, and money laundering offenses. The verdict was delivered following a three-week trial before Senior United States District Judge Joy Flowers Conti in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The evidence presented during the trial revealed that Williams managed a large-scale drug trafficking enterprise for approximately five years, overseeing more than a dozen individuals in multiple states. He procured substantial quantities of cocaine from various locations, including the Southwest border and Phoenix, Arizona, and arranged for the transportation of cocaine to various cities in the eastern United States. Williams used a network of young women, often facing financial difficulties, to transport the cocaine on domestic airline flights, concealing the drugs in checked luggage. These women also transported the proceeds of Williams’s cocaine trafficking back to Phoenix using secret compartments in suitcases. Williams maintained control over his organization through threats of violence, including threats to kill a young woman and her entire family if she cooperated with law enforcement.
Throughout the conspiracy, Williams was associated with multiple seizures involving kilogram-quantities of cocaine and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and jewelry. For instance, in 2012, law enforcement seized $337,000 in cash concealed in secret compartments in eight suitcases. In 2014, Williams was arrested in Arizona, and a search of his vehicle revealed approximately $160,000 in cash hidden in two suitcases. In April 2017, a search of a residence linked to Williams uncovered six kilograms of cocaine and $78,500 in cash concealed in a suitcase. A month later, in May 2017, a search of Williams’s car and hotel room revealed approximately $120,000 in cash and valuable jewelry. About three months later, in August 2017, a search of another hotel room registered in Williams’s name resulted in the seizure of 17 kilograms of cocaine, approximately $192,000 in cash, and $150,000 in jewelry. Even while incarcerated following the August 2017 seizure, Williams continued to coordinate cocaine shipments from Phoenix to the Pittsburgh area, including five kilograms of cocaine hidden in a BMW SUV on a car carrier traveling from Arizona to Pittsburgh. The jury specifically determined that Williams was responsible for trafficking 150 kilograms or more of cocaine.
The law mandates a life sentence for Williams. Additionally, the jury determined that approximately $400,000 in cash, $200,000 worth of jewelry, and the BMW SUV should be forfeited to the government.
Assistant United States Attorneys Brendan T. Conway and Karen Gal-Or represented the United States during the trial. The investigation leading to Williams’s prosecution was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Pennsylvania State Police. Numerous other law enforcement agencies in Pennsylvania and Arizona also provided valuable investigative assistance, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, the Allegheny County Police, the Swissvale Police Department, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (Arizona), and the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office (Arizona).
By FCCT Editorial Team