17-year-old sentenced as adult to four years in prison for drug and firearm possession

Staff report

ALACHUA, Fla. – Charles Lavon Williams, Jr., 17, has been sentenced as an adult to four years in prison after deputies found a stolen pistol and 168 grams of marijuana in his bedroom while executing a search warrant.

Williams served a juvenile sentence in 2024 and was released on November 26, 2024. A search warrant for his social media account reportedly produced images of Williams holding multiple firearms after he had been adjudicated a delinquent.

On February 5, 2025, a search warrant was obtained for the home where he lives with his mother, and his bedroom was searched on February 6.

The search reportedly produced a 9mm Taurus pistol, with an extended magazine, that had been stolen in Alachua, and a Glock extended magazine that was loaded; both of these were reportedly seen in Williams’s social media posts.

A bag containing 167.99 grams of marijuana was reportedly found in his closet, along with a digital scale and a box of baggies, “indicating to this detective that [Williams] has been involved in narcotics since his release from his Juvenile Commitment Program.”

Williams was charged with possession of a firearm by an adjudicated delinquent but was not charged with stealing the pistol because he was in custody when it was stolen. He was also charged with possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana.

On February 17, he was formally charged as an adult with both charges and transferred to the adult jail later that month. At the time of his adult arrest, he had one juvenile conviction and told court personnel that he was a student at Santa Fe High School; he was released on $100,000 bail in early March.

On May 19, Williams entered an open plea of nolo contendere to possession of a controlled substance and possession of a firearm by an adjudicated delinquent, charges with a maximum sentence of 20 years. The next day, prosecutors asked Judge William Davis to take Williams into custody pending sentencing, but Judge Davis denied the motion and ordered an 8 p.m. curfew unless Williams was fulfilling work or school obligations.

Today, Judge Davis sentenced Williams to two concurrent sentences of four years in state prison, followed by three years of probation for the gun charge.