In September of 2021, at the age of 54, actor Michael K. Williams (Lovecraft Country, Boardwalk Empire) passed away due to the fatal effects of the narcotic fentanyl. According to Deadline, the co-creator and producer of HBO’s hit show The Wire, David Simon (Show Me a Hero, The Plot Against America) claims that the state of New York should show leniency when sentencing the man who sold Williams the narcotic.

The HBO series, The Wire, had a five season run ending in 2008. Williams portrayed the terrifying criminal character, Omar Little. Deadline notes that Williams did not keep his addiction a secret and during season three of the show’s run, he also made the addiction known to the crew. Williams even allowed someone by his side at all times “to assure some distance between Mike and temptation.”

Simon stated after the passing of Williams that he was “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… I never failed to see him take responsibility for himself and his decisions.”

In a three page letter, Simon urged that the Manhattan Federal District Court Judge Ronnie Abrams should exert clemency in the upcoming case of Carlos Macci. Macci is one of four men who pled guilty to distributing and possessing the fentanyl that took the life of Williams.

The letter was filed on Thursday by Benjamin Zeman, Macci’s lawyer. Within the letter, Simon explains that “what happened to Mike is a grievous tragedy, 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.” Secondly, Simon continues, “no possible good can come from incarcerating a 71-year-old soul, largely illiterate, who has himself struggled with a lifetime of addiction, but rather as someone caught up in the diaspora of addiction himself.”

Simon claims that Williams always took responsibility for his actions and drug use. He continues to claim that Williams had an extreme distaste for the mass incarceration that occurred following the war on drugs. Simon states that Williams “would want me to write this letter.”

While the court’s probation officer has recommended that Macci serve a sentence of ten years, Macci’s attorney is requesting that Macci only be sentenced a year and a half.