Hartford Gang Member Sentenced to 36 Years in Federal Prison for 2013 Drug-Related Murder

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ANTWANE WILLIAMS-BEY, also known as "Buck," 33, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 432 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for committing the drug-related murder of Valentin Santos Jr., 21, in Hartford on August 12, 2013.

According to the evidence presented during his trial, on August 12, 2013, Williams-Bey, a member of the Orange Street Killas (OSK) street gang, shot and killed Santos, also known as "Macho" and "Ubby," on Linnmoore Street in Hartford in retaliation for a theft of Williams-Bey's drug stash/money. Santos was shot approximately 12 times, mostly in the back.

Williams-Bey was found guilty of the offense on November 2, 2022.

Williams-Bey has been detained in federal custody since February 2017 and had been serving an 84-month sentence for distributing heroin and crack cocaine. While awaiting trial in this murder case, Williams-Bey was charged in the District of Rhode Island for participating in a conspiracy to smuggle synthetic marijuana into the Rhode Island detention center where he was held. He pleaded guilty and, in February 2024, was sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment for that offense.

This investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force and the Hartford Police Department's Major Crimes Division. The Task Force includes members of the FBI, Hartford Police Department, East Hartford Police Department, New Britain Police Department, West Hartford Police Department, Connecticut State Police, and Connecticut Department of Correction. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert S. Ruff and Trial Attorney Brian P. Leaming of the Justice Department's Violent Crime and Racketeering Section.