'The Wire' Co-Creator Seeks Leniency for Drug Dealer, 71, Who Sold Fentanyl to Late Actor Michael K. Williams

One of four men charged for selling Michael K. Williams the heroin laced with fentanyl that claimed his life at 54 is being defended in a three-page letter sent to the judge by The Wire co-creator David Simon.

Carlos Macci, 71, will be sentenced this month after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute narcotics in April following Williams' overdose death at his Brooklyn penthouse on Sept. 6, 2021.

RadarOnline.com has learned that Simon strived to reason with Manhattan Judge Ronnie Abrams to consider a lesser punishment for Macci that still fit the crime.

"No possible good can come from incarcerating a 71-year-old soul, largely illiterate, who has himself struggled with a lifetime of addiction and who has not engaged in street-level sales of narcotics with ambitions of success and profit but rather as someone caught up in the diaspora of addiction himself," Simon wrote, Manhattan court papers showed.

The former police reporter said if Williams were alive today, he wouldn't place sole blame on Macci, who has 23 prior drug convictions. Simon worked closely alongside Williams, who played Omar Little on the hit crime drama which spanned from 2002 to 2008.

Simon pointed out within his letter that Williams had been candid about his own drug addiction during the show's third season and spoke out about his battle years after The Wire wrapped. "I never failed to see him take responsibility for himself and his decisions," he said.

"It is this attitude — coupled with Michael's publicly stated opposition to mass incarceration and the drug war ... that convinces me that he would want me to write this letter."

Macci's lawyer, Benjamin Zeman, wants his client to get time served, which would amount to about one and a half years as the 71-year-old has been behind bars since 2022.

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Simon's letter was included with a court filing submitted by Zeman because "he's been such a thoughtful and eloquent voice about what the failure of the war on drugs has wrought, and I knew of his relationship with Mr. Williams and all that Mr. Williams had spoken about this subject during the course of his life."

The Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets author praised Williams as "one of the finest actors" and "one of the most thoughtful, gracious and charitable souls."