COLUMBIA, SC — Ten people were sentenced to a combined 160 years in federal prison for their roles in a cocaine distribution conspiracy in Lexington and Richland counties, U.S. Attorneys said.

The men were all convicted of conspiracy to possess cocaine and crack cocaine with the intent to distribute the drugs, money laundering, possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes, all federal offenses.

One of the men convicted in the lawsuit, Antonio Dupree Williams, was revealed to have run a large-scale cocaine and crack cocaine conspiracy in Batesburg-Leesville, attorneys said. Williams would receive between 2 and 11 pounds at a time cocaine from distributors and then deliver them to the homes of some of his co-conspirators.

Then, attorneys said, customers would make orders and Williams’ co-conspirators would deliver the drugs. It has been estimated that more than 220 pounds of cocaine were involved in the conspiracy.

Investigators linked Williams and his co-conspirators to the distribution scheme through wiretaps and information from other defendants.

The names and sentences of the defendants are:

• Antonio Dupree Williams, also known as “Dollar Bill” and “Pree;” 24 years, 4 months in prison.

• Charles Henry Gantt, also known as “Charles Jr.;” 19 years, 7 months in prison.

• James Lewis Williams, also known as “Lump;” a mandatory life sentence in prison.

• Eric Fredrick Williams, also known as “Sweet;” 15 years, 8 months in prison.

• Anthony Walker Alphonso Thompson, also known as “Tony;” 210 months in prison.

• William Jacoby Holloway, also known as “Coby;” 10 years in prison.

• Walter Leon Williams, also known as “Scoop Dog;” 11 years, 3 months in prison.

• Lindsay Tyrone Leaphart, also known as “Tyrone” and “Sleepy;” 10 years in prison.

• Joseph Junior Nelson, also known as “Bone;” 10 years, 1 month in prison.

• Darrell T. Washington, also known as “D-black;” 25 years in prison.

The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Internal Revenue Service, State Law Enforcement Division, Batesburg Police Department and the Newberry Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys William K. Witherspoon, Mark C. Moore and J.D. Rowell of the Columbia office handled the case.