Two Minneapolis men have been sentenced to federal prison for possession of fentanyl and cocaine with intent to distribute, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger.
Cortez Ananias Williams, 24, and his cousin Savontray Orlando Dwayne Collins, 23, were involved in trafficking controlled substances between California and Minnesota beginning as early as January 2023, according to their guilty pleas in court.
A federal affidavit detailed that Williams had been under investigation for about a year for drug trafficking and firearms possession. As part of the investigation, authorities obtained a warrant to collect location data related to Williams’ cellphone. The data collected showed that Williams had made multiple short trips to California.
A confidential informant (CI) also told law enforcement that Williams made regular trips to California to pick up fentanyl and would typically return with 50,000 to 100,000 pills. The CI indicated to law enforcement that Williams would be returning from California on Jan. 25, 2023. Investigators were unable to interdict Williams at that time but obtained surveillance images of Williams wheeling a suitcase accompanied by Collins at the airport. The two were picked up by an associate and were transported to an Uptown Minneapolis residence and then to a residence in the Corcoran neighborhood, according to the cellphone data. The residence in the Corcoran neighborhood of Minneapolis had been identified by a CI as the location where Williams was known to repackage the drugs for sale.
Cellphone data again indicated that Williams had traveled to California by car on Feb. 10, 2023. Further location data suggested he was on a return trip to Minnesota on Feb. 12, 2023.
On Feb. 13, 2023, investigators with the Hennepin County Violent Offender task force positioned themselves along I-35 near the Minnesota/Iowa border in anticipation of Williams’ return. A vehicle was spotted that appeared to contain Williams as the driver and Collins as the passenger. Two other adults were in the back seat.
The vehicle was intercepted shortly after it entered Minnesota in Freeborn County. A search of the vehicle eventually turned up approximately 45,000 fentanyl pills and a kilo of cocaine.
A search of Minnesota court records shows that Williams has prior convictions for second-degree manslaughter and third-degree burglary in separate cases. Williams was convicted in 2017 at the age of 17 for “accidentally” shooting and killing his friend during a gun exchange in Crystal, Minn. He served 33 months incarcerated of the imposed 50-month sentence.
Following his release from prison, Williams was convicted in November 2021 for burglarizing a south Minneapolis pharmacy on April 12, 2021, during the rioting aftermath of the Daunte Wright shooting by former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter. Williams received a stay on the 21-month prison sentence by Hennepin County Judge Gina M. Brandt.
Court records show Collins has two 2017 convictions for being a felon in possession of a firearm. The five-year prison sentences in both cases were stayed by former Hennepin County Judge Martha Holton Dimick, and Collins was instead sentenced to 180 days in the workhouse.
Both men separately pleaded guilty in the federal drug trafficking case to one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine.
Williams was sentenced in December to 135 months in prison, and Collins was sentenced March 14 to 120 months in prison. Each will be placed on supervised release for a period of five years following their releases from prison.
Federal inmates must serve a minimum of 85% of their sentence incarcerated, unlike state sentencing which only requires inmates to serve two-thirds or less incarcerated before being eligible for release.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
