The man responsible for the heroin deaths of three people in Fairfax County will be spending the next three decades in prison. Eugene Asomani “Shine” Williams, 35, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced last week in federal court for conspiring to distribute heroin and possessing a firearm while doing so.
The three victims were Woodson High graduate Kara Schachinger, 22, of Fairfax; Joshua Pearson, 33, of Fairfax County and Timothy Huffman, 23, an active duty soldier who was serving in the Army at Fort Belvoir.
“Williams peddled a dangerous drug and inflicted untold damage to the victims, their families, and our communities,” said Dana Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “This case exemplifies the cooperative efforts of federal, state and local law enforcement to combat this pernicious crime.”
On Jan. 22 in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Williams pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin and possession of a firearm during and in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. In a statement of facts filed with his plea agreement, he admitted to distributing more than one kilogram of heroin in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia between 2004 and Sept. 26, 2013.
Williams further admitted that Pearson, Huffman and Schachinger all died as a result of their use of heroin distributed by him.
“I have heard firsthand from families about the devastation brought by the loss of a loved one in this wave of heroin-related deaths, and about the strain placed on law-enforcement and healthcare professionals as they work to respond to it,” said Attorney General Mark Herring. “Education, prevention and treatment will play a major part in dealing with this emerging threat, but I will also ensure that my office is doing all it can to keep these dangerous drugs, and those who distribute them, off the streets.”
Williams returned to court last Friday, April 18 and, at that time, U.S. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema sentenced him to 30 years in prison.
“Today’s sentencing of Eugene Williams closes the book on a drug trafficker who was responsible for trafficking heroin that led to the death of three individuals in Fairfax County,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Karl C. Colder of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Washington Division. “Heroin is a drug that destroys lives and, tragically, sometimes takes them. This case clearly demonstrates DEA’s commitment, by working with our law-enforcement partners, to stop drug traffickers who profit from the harm – in this case deadly harm – they present to our community.”
Col. Ed Roessler Jr., Fairfax County Chief of Police, also weighed in on Williams’s punishment. “Fairfax County is safer today thanks to the robust partnerships between local, state and federal law enforcement,” he said. “Today’s sentencing is proof positive these partnerships work against drug traffickers and others who set up criminal enterprises in our region.”