In 2008, Maurice Williams chose to celebrate his 33rd birthday in typical fashion. He reserved Club Ice in downtown Columbus, hired big-name entertainment and invited everyone in town to the party.
Folks had to pay to get in, but making money really wasnt the point. Williams wanted to give Columbus a chance to have fun, see two popular rappersJim Jones and Juelz Santanain an unusually intimate setting. And, of course, it didnt hurt that the concert would add to his legend.
Williamsor Papa Joe, as most people called himwas the cocaine king of Columbus.
For a decade, his organization, the Brittany Hills Posse, moved hundreds, maybe thousands, of kilograms into Central Ohio from Detroit, Atlanta and Houston via vans, semi-trucks and cars outfitted with secret compartments, according to court testimony.
His Houston connection alone provided a conservative estimate of $5 million worth of cocaine in just one years span. Papa Joe was the biggest drug dealer in town for the past 30 years, DeVillers says.
In the inherently volatile narcotics trade, Williams was a rare constant. Some folks viewed him as untouchable, the only drug dealer in town the cops could never get. Williams dealt only with trusted sources and surrounded himself with loyal foot soldiers.
Often, his disciples were young guys from tough backgrounds just like him; his father was killed by police and his mother struggled with drug addiction, according to court records. They tended to idolize hima strapping, charismatic ex-jock (he once was a promising high school basketball player) living a life they aspired to.
Hes very pleasant, friendly, intelligent, says Jeffrey Brandt, Williamss former attorney. Hes got a personality that causes people to want to be friends with him. I think he would have made a great salesman. I think he would have made a great entrepreneur if he would have had the right mother or father.
Indeed, Williams was a sharp operator. As his business grew, he insulated himself against criminal exposure. Around 2005, he even moved to Atlanta, allowing others to directly manage his Columbus drug operation while he kept his hands clean.
He dont like to sleep around cocaine, a subordinate testified last year. His foot soldiers handled the dirty work of distribution, transportation and storage, while Williamsthe very essence of a CEO, as a federal prosecutor described himwould focus on the big picture: quality control, following the market (he added high-grade marijuana called kush to his repertoire during a cocaine shortage in 2007) and schmoozing with an important supplier during the 2006 NBA All-Star Game in Houston.
Williams lived a good life. He drove a Lexus, Corvette, Mercedes and Range Rover. When he visited Columbus, he stayed in an apartment at Easton Commons, the development across the street from the shopping complex, and regularly ate at the restaurants nearby.
In Atlanta, he employed a live-in butler and made connections in the citys hip-hop recording industry.
Unconfirmed stories spread about his generosity: giving thousand-dollar tips to strippers, buying cleats, helmets and jerseys for pee-wee football players and helping their parents pay bills.
Others talked about his friends in the music world, the popular Atlanta rapper, Gucci Mane was a friend, according to court testimony. A fellow drug dealer, Nigel Jackson, even co-wrote a self-published book about Williams. The folklore abounds about Papa Joe, a federal prosecutor wrote last year.
In his book, Brittany Hills Conspiracy: Papa Joes 177 Days on the Run, Jackson wrote about Williamss connections to Jones, the New York City rapper who had a top-10 hit in 2007 with We Fly High.
When Jones arrived late for a concert at Veterans Memorial in early 2008, he brought along an entourage that included Williams and about 20 other people. Angry, Jackson, who was the shows promoter, threatened to cut Joness pay, but Williams diffused the situation with a $1,000 wad to cover everyone.
Jones repaid the favor when he performed later in the evening. Half of his stage set he talked about Papa Joe, Jackson wrote.
A few months later, Jones was back in Columbus for Williamss birthday party. This time, however, neither Jones nor Santana, the other featured performer, mentioned Williams from the stage, says someone who was at the show. The source says the concertwhich drew a packed house of about 800 folkshit its stride when Jones did Dont Forget About Me, one of the few songs played in full that evening.
Williams must have seen a lot of himself in the song, the story of a hustler getting rich off cocaine. And just like the narrator of the song, Williams was operating on borrowed timehis bulletproof reputation notwithstanding. Six days later, police raided his Easton Commons apartment.
Drug boss sentenced to 30 years in prison | The Columbus Dispatch
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