Opinion ID: 4342035
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Williams’s Criminal Offense

Text: This case arises out of an FBI investigation into Georgia prison guards who were smuggling contraband into state prisons. The FBI eventually redirected the investigation into guards’ conduct occurring outside prisons. The FBI created a reverse sting operation in which a confidential human source (“CHS”) posed as a high-level drug trafficker and asked prison guards to assist him in transporting methamphetamine and cocaine to other purported drug traffickers. The guards were told to wear their uniforms during the transactions to protect the drug deals from law enforcement interdiction. The CHS paid the guards for their assistance. Williams, a corrections officer with the Georgia Department of Corrections, was arrested in the reverse sting operation. Another prison guard, co-defendant 2 Case: 17-13503 Date Filed: 11/15/2018 Page: 3 of 20 Travonne Ferrell, approached Williams about participating in the scheme. Although she initially declined, Williams agreed and assisted the CHS on three occasions in transporting substances that she believed to be methamphetamine and cocaine. For each transaction, Williams wore her guard uniform. She was given the opportunity to back out before each transaction but opted to participate. In the first transaction, Ferrell and Williams met the CHS in a parking lot in Locust Grove, Georgia. When Ferrell and Williams entered the CHS’s vehicle, he told them that they would be delivering three kilograms of methamphetamine and three kilograms of cocaine to Stockbridge, Georgia.1 The CHS explained that Williams would ride with the CHS and transport the cocaine while Ferrell would follow in his own vehicle and transport the methamphetamine. When they arrived at the parking lot in Stockbridge, Ferrell and Williams placed bags containing the drugs in another vehicle. The CHS paid Williams $1,500 for her assistance. While driving to Stockbridge, Williams told the CHS that she knew two other prison guards who might want to assist in transporting drugs. Williams later sent the CHS text messages containing the phone numbers for two guards, Phoenicia Minor and Tacowan Fluellen. 1 For each of the transactions, the packages the CHS gave Williams contained counterfeit methamphetamine and cocaine. We nonetheless refer to the substances as methamphetamine, cocaine, or drugs for ease of reference. 3 Case: 17-13503 Date Filed: 11/15/2018 Page: 4 of 20 In the second transaction, Williams and Minor met the CHS in a parking lot in Locust Grove. The CHS gave Williams a bag containing three kilograms of cocaine and Minor a bag with two kilograms of methamphetamine. The CHS drove to Stockbridge with Minor in his vehicle, while Williams followed in her vehicle. When they arrived at a parking lot in Stockbridge, Williams and Minor placed the bags containing the drugs in another vehicle. This time Williams was paid $3,000. Williams and Fluellen participated in the third transaction. They met the CHS in a parking lot in Locust Grove. When they entered the CHS’s vehicle, he instructed them that they each would transport a bag containing two kilograms of cocaine and one kilogram of methamphetamine. The CHS drove to Stockbridge with Fluellen in the CHS’s vehicle, while Williams followed in her vehicle. When they arrived at the parking lot in Stockbridge, Williams and Fluellen placed the bags containing the drugs in another vehicle. The CHS again paid Williams $3,000. This was the last transaction in which Williams participated. The government indicted Williams and more than 20 other prison guards who assisted the CHS in similar drug transactions. A grand jury changed Williams with three counts of attempting to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 and 846 and 18 U.S.C. § 2, and three counts of 4 Case: 17-13503 Date Filed: 11/15/2018 Page: 5 of 20 affecting commerce by extortion under color of official rights, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a). Williams moved to dismiss the indictment, claiming that the government engaged in outrageous conduct and violated concepts of fundamental fairness by creating a reverse sting operation that targeted individuals who had not previously engaged in illegal conduct. A magistrate judge recommended that the district court deny her motion. Williams objected to the magistrate judge’s recommendation. The district court overruled the objection and denied the motion to dismiss. After the district court denied her motion to dismiss, Williams pled guilty to one count of attempting to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine. At the plea hearing, the government described how Williams had transported what she believed to be a total of eight kilograms of cocaine and one kilogram of methamphetamine in exchange for cash. The government also explained that Williams was told and believed that her uniformed presence would protect the drug deals by making it less likely that law enforcement officers would search her vehicle if there was a stop. Williams agreed with the government’s description of her conduct.