ATLANTA — A Decatur man with more than a dozen felony convictions, including a voluntary manslaughter conviction tied to a fatal dispute over a $10 drug debt, has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for illegally possessing a gun.
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Federal prosecutors announced that Jesse James Williams Jr., 51, was sentenced Monday by a judge to 14 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
A federal jury found Williams guilty in December 2025 of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon following a four-day trial.
According to prosecutors, Williams was arrested on May 29, 2024, after a Gwinnett County police officer stopped his vehicle for speeding. During the traffic stop, officers found a stolen pistol and a bag of crack cocaine in Williams’ waistband.
Investigators later determined the stolen firearm had been used in a shooting in Decatur that injured a woman. Prosecutors said Williams allegedly warned the victim before the shooting, saying, “[Expletive], I told you not to touch my stuff.”
Federal authorities said Williams had accumulated more than 14 felony convictions before his latest arrest, including convictions for cocaine trafficking, robbery, burglary and weapons offenses.
His criminal history also includes a 2011 voluntary manslaughter conviction. Prosecutors said Williams killed another man during a dispute over a $10 drug debt.
“Amassing more than a dozen felony convictions, this violent, incorrigible defendant spent decades breaking the law,” U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said in a statement. “Williams’s sentence sends an unmistakable message: repeat offenders who arm themselves and endanger the community will be removed from our streets.”
FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Marlo Graham said Williams had repeatedly demonstrated a disregard for the law and public safety.
“The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively pursue violent offenders who use firearms to threaten and harm our communities,” Graham said.
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