Crime & Safety
St. Pete Cocaine Dealer Lands In Federal Prison: DOJ
A cocaine dealer on probation was caught selling drugs at a Pinellas Park strip club last year, the Department of Justice said.
ST. PETERSBURG, FL — A cocaine dealer from St. Petersburg is headed to federal prison for nearly seven years, according to a Department of Justice news release.
Leon Erick Williams, 41, will spend six years and nine months behind bars for distributing cocaine. He pleaded guilty on Oct. 11, the agency said.
Williams previously served a 12-year federal prison sentence for his involvement in a multi-kilogram cocaine distribution conspiracy in Hillsborough County, the DOJ said.
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In February 2022, while on federal supervised release for that offense, Williams sold cocaine to undercover police officers at an adult entertainment club in Pinellas Park, according to the agency.
He then coordinated another cocaine deal with the undercover officers via text message. A few days later, Williams sold the undercover officers more cocaine in the club’s restroom, investigators said.
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Unbeknownst to the undercover officers, Williams had been arrested on unrelated drug charges on the night of Feb. 9.
He was released on bond from the Pinellas County Jail on Feb. 10 and returned to the club later that day to sell more cocaine, the DOJ said.
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