Batesburg Man Sentenced in Cocaine Ring Bust

A federal judge sentenced a Batesburg man Thursday investigators say was involved in distributing crack cocaine. 

Erick Frederick Williams, 28, was sentenced in Columbia for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine and 280 grams or more of crack cocaine. U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Anderson sentenced Williams to 15.6 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release and a $100 special assessment. 

At Erick Williams' plea hearing, the U.S. Attorney's Office presented evidence that he was part of a crack cocaine ring led by Antonio Williams.

Prosecutors say Antonio Williams received cocaine from Hispanic distributors who would deliver the cocaine to the homes of his co-conspirators. He usually purchased one to five kilograms of cocaine at a time, they say. Some of the cocaine was converted to crack cocaine. 

Antonio Williams' conspirators would store the cocaine and crack cocaine at their houses until customers placed orders, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Other people involved in the drug ring made the deliveries. 

An informant for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms bought cocaine from Antonio Williams during the investigation. The FBI then obtained wiretaps of the phone of several people involved in the ring, including Antonio Williams. The wiretaps led investigators to others involved in the ring.

Antonio Williams and five other Lexington County residents have been sentenced so far in the case: 

• Antonio Williams was sentenced to 24.5 years on the drug conspiracy, 15 years for being a felon in possession of a firearm and 20 years on money laundering charges, followed by 10 years of supervised release.
• Charles Gantt, of Batesburg, was sentenced to 19.6 years incarceration, followed by 10 years of supervised release.
• James Lewis Williams, of Batesburg, was sentenced to life imprisonment.
• Lindsay Tyrone Leaphart, of Leesville, was sentenced to 10 years incarceration, followed by five years of supervised release.
• Walter Leon Williams, of Batesburg, was sentenced to 11.25 years incarceration followed by six years of supervised release. 
• Joseph Junior Nelson, of Gilbert, was sentenced to 10 years and one month incarceration, followed by 10 years of supervised release. 

Three other co-defendants have not been sentenced yet. They are Anthony Walker Alphonso Thompson, William Jacoby Holloway and Darrell T. Washington. All three pled guilty to the conspiracy charge, except Washington who was convicted at trial this summer, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Internal Revenue Service, State Law Enforcement Division, Batesburg Police Department and the Newberry Police Department.  

Assistant United States Attorneys William K. Witherspoon, Mark C. Moore and J.D. Rowell of the Columbia office handled the case.