PUBLISHED: 09:35 EDT, 7 July 2023 | UPDATED: 10:10 EDT, 7 July 2023
The co-creator of The Wire begged a federal judge to free a drug dealer charged in connection to the death of actor Michael K. Williams.
David Simon branded the September 2021 death of the actor a 'grievous tragedy', but pleaded in a letter to the Federal District Court in New York not to punish dealer 71 year-old Carlos Macci further for the tragedy.
He has called for Macci, who'll be sentenced later this month, to be given time served and described the defendant as a vulnerable and semi-literate man who has himself battled drug addiction.
If a judge listens to Simon, that means Macci would be freed from jail after a year-and-a-half behind bars awaiting trial. Probation officers have recommended a 10 year sentence.
Simon also said Williams would ultimately have taken responsibility for his own fentanyl overdose death, rather than blaming the dealer who sold him the substance.
'No possible good can come from incarcerating a 71-year-old soul, largely illiterate, who has himself struggled with a lifetime of addiction,' the letter read, according to the New York Times.
Williams was found dead in his Brooklyn penthouse after taking heroin laced with the powerful synthetic opioid. Simon penned the letter in defense of street dealer Carlos Macci, who was arrested in February 2022 alongside Hector Robles, 58, Luis Cruz, 57, and Irvin Cartagena, 40.
He said Williams, who starred as Omar Little on his hit show from 2002 to 2008, was 'one of the finest actors with whom I have had the honor to collaborate and one of the most thoughtful, gracious and charitable souls I could ever call a friend.'
The producer said that while Williams' death was a tragedy, the actor would not want the blame to be pinned on Macci. I know that Michael would look upon the undone and desolate life of Mr. Macci and know two things with certainty,' he continued.
'First, that it was Michael who bears the fuller responsibility for what happened.'
The second, he wrote, was that Macci doesn't deserve to be incarcerated after 'struggling with a lifetime of addiction', adding the dealer is 'largely illiterate'.
Simon wrote The Wire after serving 13 years as a crime journalist, and he was reportedly asked to pen the letter by Macci's lawyer, Benjamin Zeman, as a respected voice over the issue of drug addiction.
(Simon has) been such a thoughtful and eloquent voice about what the failure of the war on drugs has wrought,' Zeman said.
'And I knew of his relationship with Mr. Williams and all that Mr. Williams had spoken about this subject during the course of his life.'
Williams' death came a day after he was seen buying drugs from dealer Irvin Cartagena on September 5, 2021. Cartagena, who was previously arrested twice on drug-related charges but released under New York's woke bail reform policies, was arrested in Puerto Rico five months later. Prosecutors allege Cartagena peddled the drugs that killed Williams, and he was arrested with three co-conspirators - including Macci - related to the 54-year-old actor's accidental fentanyl poisoning.
Officials said the four men were part of a drug trafficking organization since August 2020, operating in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Their ring primarily focused on fentanyl and heroin-laced fentanyl as they sold the drugs outside their apartment, where Cartagena, known as 'Green Eyes,' met up with Williams on September 5, 2021, to allegedly sell him the drugs.
Video surveillance captured the moment Cartagena handed off the drugs to Williams a day before the actor died. Moments prior, Williams handed the man a wad of cash, and Cartagena could be seen counting the bills before reaching into a paper bag stashed beside a blue recycling can in front of the apartment.The actor was found the following day by his nephew unconscious and face down in the living room of Williams' Williamsburg apartment. He was declared dead by medics who rushed to the scene.While Macci faces a decade behind bars, Cartagena was also charged with causing the death of Williams, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Williams' death was initially ruled as an accident, before officials decided to seek charges against those responsible. The arrests were announced by prosecutors five months after his death. U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said he was proud of the arrests, as he echoed the importance of ending America's opioid crisis.
'This is a public health crisis. And it has to stop,' he said.
'Deadly opioids like fentanyl and heroin don't care about who you are or what you've accomplished. 'They just feed addiction and lead to tragedy. The Southern District of New York and our law enforcement partners will not give up. 'We will bring every tool to bear. And we will continue to hold accountable the dealers who push this poison, exploit addiction, and cause senseless death.'
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