Macon judge orders 14-year prison sentence for repeat sex offender charged in sting
A previously convicted sex offender was ordered to serve 14 years in prison for re-offending by having explicit conversations with someone he thought was a 13-year-old.
Marquaze Williams appeared in federal court Thursday to receive his sentence after he admitted that he shared sexually explicit conversations with the person he thought was a minor on a dating app. The person Williams was messaging was actually an undercover federal agent. Prosecutors said Williams was a sex offender who was indicted on two counts of statutory rape.
Williams’ attorney, E. Addison Gantt, attempted to argue that giving Williams a year-long sentence on his reoffense charge was sufficient because he was a good employee at work and had a strong support system with his family.
Williams’ longest sentence, stemming from his past case, was five years. A mandatory sentence of 10 years for one of his counts, using interstate communications to talk to a minor, is double that, Gantt said. It is unclear in which county he faced his statutory rape case.
Overall, Gantt argued that Williams’ sentence should be between 11 to 13 years in prison.
Prosecutors argued that it was best for his sentence to be at the top of the guidelines because he violated his probation for his previous court case and that a long time in prison was necessary to protect other potential victims. Glantt responded, saying Williams had no money, was providing for his family first, and even the courts understood “there was something impeding treatment.”
Judge Marc Treadwell ultimately decided to sentence him to 14 years in prison, followed by 25 years of supervised release.
Undercover agent was posing as the minor
An undercover agent was managing the fake 13-year-old’s profile under a federal sting called Operation Red Rover, which targets online child predators. It charged eight people, six of them being from Middle Georgia, with attempt to entice or coerce children to engage in sexually explicit activity.
Williams was the first man to be sentenced as part of his operation. Darryl Lockett, Rashon Griggs and Naimilkumar Dadawala were all charged in the sting and pleaded guilty. All three are scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 20, court records show.
Dewan Mitchell and Jon Wiltberger, also charged in the operation, are expected to plead guilty Oct. 22, court records show. The other two suspects, Steven Williams and Jose Santiago Longoria-Alvarez, are expected to go to trial.
This story was originally published October 10, 2024 at 1:30 PM.
CORRECTION: Marquaze Williams’ attorney asked that one of Williams’ offenses be punished with a one-year sentence. This information was incorrect in a previous version of this story.
