‘The Wire’ Creator David Simon Asks for Mercy for Man Charged in Michael K. Williams’ Death
In a letter to a Manhattan judge, The Wire creator David Simon called the late Michael K. Williams “one of the finest actors with whom I have had the honor to collaborate and one of the most thoughtful, gracious and charitable souls I could ever call a friend.” But he also asks for leniency for a man charged in Williams’ death.
Williams, who played stick-up man Omar Little on the HBO drama, died after overdosing on fentanyl-laced heroin in September 2021 at age 54. And Carlos Macci, 71, is one of four people who have been charged in connection with his death, according to The New York Times.
According to a U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York criminal complaint cited by TVLine, Macci and the three other men — Irvin Cartagena, 40, Hector Robles, 58, and Luiz Cruz, 57 — kept selling their drugs even after learning that Williams had died.
Nicole Rivelli/HBO/Courtesy: Everett Collection
All four men have pleaded guilty, with Macci admitting to agreeing with others to possess and distribute narcotics. Now Macci faces sentencing by Ronnie Abrams of Manhattan’s Federal District Court later this month.
A court filing by Benjamin Zeman, Macci’s lawyer, notes that the court’s probation office recommended 10 years of prison time for Macci, but Zeman is asking for a sentence of time served — nearly a year and a half — for his client. And Zeman enlisted Simon to write a letter to the judge on Macci’s behalf.
“What happened to Mike is a grievous tragedy,” Simon wrote in his letter. “But I know that Michael would look upon the undone and desolate life of Mr. Macci and know two things with certainty: First, that it was Michael who bears the fuller responsibility for what happened.”
Second, Simon added, is that “no possible good can come from incarcerating a 71-year-old soul, largely illiterate, who has himself struggled with a lifetime of addiction. The TV writer, former a reporter for The Baltimore Sun, wrote that Macci didn’t sell drugs for profit “but rather as someone caught up in the diaspora of addiction himself.”
Simon explained to the judge that Williams disclosed his addiction struggles to a producer while filming the third season of The Wire and agreed to producers’ efforts to help, which included a crew member who acted as a sober companion.
“I never failed to see [Williams] take responsibility for himself and his decisions,” Simon wrote.
