10 years for San Francisco felon guilty of firearms, drugs and child porn possession
A San Francisco felon with a “long, varied and extremely concerning criminal history” was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment today after being caught with an arsenal of firearms, industrial quantities of drugs and copious amounts of child pornography at his Potrero Hill home.
Rodney Williams was found with six rifles, two of which were assault weapons, five pistols, a revolver and a shotgun, plus six kilograms of methamphetamine and other drugs, during a police raid in connection with a child sex abuse investigation.
He earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of child pornography, two counts of possession with intent to distribute narcotics, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
“I apologize for what I’ve done,” Williams told U.S. District Judge Susan Illston today, “it will never happen again and I’m eager to get treatment in custody.”
Williams, 55, came to law enforcement attention after the child pornography he uploaded to a Dropbox account was detected by the company and reported to federal authorities.
That led agents from Homeland Security Investigations to conduct a stakeout of Williams’ home on Arkansas Street from where they were concerned to see what appeared to be drug dealing taking place.
They obtained a search warrant, raided the home, and found mountains of drugs on a table in the living room and an array of firearms in Williams’ bedroom.
Williams promptly confessed that the drugs and guns were his, describing himself as a “regular neighborhood drug dealer” to officers.
Analysis of Williams’ iPhone revealed that he possessed 555 images and 147 videos of child sexual abuse. He had also uploaded at least nine files to online file-sharing services. Prosecutors told the court that this material involved some victims under the age of 12 years old and one toddler.
Williams rap sheet includes five felony convictions beginning in 1993 for assault with a gun and he had previously served seven-and-a-half years in state prison.
“It is time for you to fix up your life,” Judge Illston told Williams this morning in courtroom one of San Francisco federal courthouse.
She imposed a ten year sentence, agreeing with the recommendation of federal prosecutors and Williams’ attorney.
He is also required to pay $89,000 in restitution to what the court was told were 25 victims identified in the child sexual abuse material.
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