Rolando Williamson

Rolando Antuain Williamson (born c. 1985) is a convicted drug dealer serving a life sentence in federal prison.

Williamson was charged with murder in a fatal shooting during a birthday party at a house on Dartmouth Avenue in Bessemer on May 27, 2007. The case was dismissed a year later.

Williamson, also known as "Baldhead" and "Ball Head," was the head of a western Jefferson County-based multi-million dollar criminal enterprise to distribute illegal drugs. His operation was investigated by an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force ("OCDETF") over a period of three years. Participating agencies included the FBI, the IRS, the North Alabama Safe Streets Task Force, the Bessemer Police Department, and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department. Williamson was arrested in Homewood on August 19, 2019. Several others arrests followed.

An indictment naming 18 defendants was unsealed on October 29, 2019. Fourteen of those charged pleaded guilty. In April 2022 Williamson and three other defendants were convicted on a range of federal charges relating to the distribution of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana. Under the Continuing Criminal Enterprise Statute (21 U.S.C. § 848), Williamson was shown to have been an organizer, manager, or supervisor of the continuing narcotics operation. In August Judge Annmarie Axon handed down an automatic sentence of life without parole.

References

• Robinson, Carol (April 20, 2022) "Bessemer man convicted under ‘kingpin’ law of leading a multi-million-dollar drug enterprise." The Birmingham News
• Robinson, Carol (August 11, 2022) "Bessemer kingpin sentenced to life in federal prison for leading multi-million-dollar drug enterprise." The Birmingham News