Two men, who are father and son, have been indicted in a kidnapping plot that resulted in a death. The pair then allegedly stole and sold marijuana from the victim.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, a grand jury returned an indictment against Scott Anthony Williams, 45, of Laurel, Maryland, and Taeyan Raymond Williams, 26, of Morgantown, West Virginia, relating to the 2018 kidnapping, extortion and killing of the victim — described as a marijuana dealer.
According to the indictment, the pair had a relationship with the victim from around October 2017 until his death on April 6, 2018 — they bought marijuana from him for redistribution and sold cocaine to him, which he allegedly then resold.
In April 2018, the victim met with Scott and Taeyan Williams to discuss a debt they owed to him and to sell marijuana to them.
Ahead of the meeting, the victim got the marijuana from a storage unit he maintained in Jessup, Maryland.
On April 6, the victim drove to Laurel, Maryland, near an area where Scott Williams lived. Around 2 p.m., the victim saved a note on his email account where allegedly kept a ledger of sales and purchases, as well as debts that Taeyon Williams owed him.
Sometime after that, Scott and Taeyon Williams allegedly abducted the the victim, robbed and extorted him and ultimately killed him, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office news release. Before killing him, the pair obtained the victim’s marijuana and the PIN number to the storage facility in Jessup.
The pair allegedly stole cash and more of the victim’s marijuana from the rental facility.
According to the indictment, they worked with others on the following day to take the victim’s vehicle to Baltimore, Maryland, where they tried to clean it with rags before abandoning it in a parking lot. The victim’s blood was later found on several areas around the vehicle.
Between April 6 and June 6, 2018, the two allegedly hid the victim’s stolen narcotics around Scott Williams’ house in Laurel. When police searched the home, they found large amounts of marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, three handguns and a rifle.
Ahead of his initial appearance in federal court in January 2019, Scott Williams allegedly tried to get a conspirator to destroy evidence by deleting information from an online storage account and his phone.
If convicted, the two face the possibility of life in prison or the death penalty for a kidnapping that resulted in death. They also face up to 47 years in prison on other charges related to the kidnapping and sale of narcotics. Additionally, Scott Williams faces up to 35 years in prison on charges relating to the distribution of methamphetamine, possession of weapons intended for use in a felony and the conspiracy to destroy evidence.
Both have been detained pending trial, which is scheduled to begin March 7, 2022.
