Gretna resident pleads guilty to possessing 66 kilograms of cocaine and $3.9 million in drug proceeds seized at his stash house and home

Published 8:24 am Saturday, May 1, 2021

NEW ORLEANS– U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced today that Dorian Williams, age 47, of Gretna, Louisiana, pled guilty to possessing with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and engaging in money laundering of profits from his drug trafficking. Agents seized approximately 66 kilograms of cocaine and about $3.9 million in drug proceeds hidden inside his Gretna stash house and home.

As part of his guilty plea, Williams agreed to forfeit nearly $5 million in drug proceeds, real estate properties in New Orleans purchased with drug proceeds, and two cars. Williams faces up to life imprisonment, a fine of $10,000,000, at least five years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment and a $200 special assessment fee. United States District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo will sentence Williams on August 11, 2021.

According to court documents, Drug Enforcement Administration agents from the New Orleans Field Division identified Williams in early 2020 as a supplier of kilogram quantities of cocaine to other drug dealers in the New Orleans metropolitan area. Agents also identified multiple addresses associated with Williams in the Jefferson Parish, Louisiana area.

Agents conducted surveillance on two of these properties – Williams’s stash house (“Stash House”) and home, both in Gretna. On November 19, 2020, agents conducted an investigatory stop on Williams’s vehicle. Following the advisement of his Miranda Rights, which he waived, Williams provided verbal and written consent to search his Stash House and home. Agents discovered approximately twenty-one (21) kilograms of cocaine in hidden drawer compartments inside a wooden TV cabinet in the Stash House, and approximately forty-five (45) kilograms of cocaine and $3.9 million in drug proceeds in Williams’s home. The Government and Williams have agreed that Williams was responsible for possessing with intent to distribute between 50 kilograms and 150 kilograms of cocaine.

In addition, according to court documents, from on or about February 20, 2019 through on or about February 17, 2020, Williams used approximately $667,500 in proceeds from his cocaine trafficking to purchase seven real estate properties in New Orleans. Doing business as GO GET IT ENTERPRISES, LLC, a Louisiana-based company, Williams laundered the proceeds of his drug dealing operations in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957(a) by purchasing and then developing these seven real estate properties with profits generated from his cocaine sales. Williams sold six of these seven properties for a profit.

This prosecution is part of an extensive investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). OCDETF is a joint federal, state, and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.

U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, Hammond Police Department, New Orleans Police Department, and Slidell Police Department in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney David Howard Sinkman is in charge of the prosecution.