Below is an official statement from the US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida:
Malcolm Jewell Williams (39, Jacksonville) has been sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard to 11 years and 3 months in federal prison for possessing a firearm after he was convicted of a felony and a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, and for possessing cocaine. The court also ordered Williams to forfeit the firearm used in the offense. Williams was found guilty after a jury trial on July 25, 2025. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.
According to court documents, Williams was previously convicted of 16 felonies and 2 misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence, each of which prohibited him from possessing firearms under federal law. On January 23, 2024, a detective from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) was posing as a drug user and encountered Williams in a gas station parking lot where Williams agreed to sell “molly” to the detective. After the sale, Williams fled from JSO officers on foot across a four-lane divided highway before being tackled in an alleyway next to a palm tree. In the base of the tree was a loaded firearm. Williams also had in his possession cocaine and a drug scale with residue.
After Williams was transported to the Duval County Jail, he broke free from his flex cuffs and fled once again through downtown Jacksonville before being apprehended by JSO a second time. Four months prior, Williams had been arrested by the Camden County (Georgia) Sheriff’s Office for possessing a half pound of methamphetamine, for which he was on bond at the time he committed this offense.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Camden County (Georgia) Sheriff’s Office, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Laura Cofer Taylor and Kelli Swaney.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
