Man claims he was forced to hold gun: Cayman News Agency

(CNS): In December 2022, Mikael Antonio Williams (29) was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison after a loaded 9mm pistol and excess ammunition were found in the Georgetown home he shared with his partner and their adult daughter. When police arrived at the Tropical Gardens home with a search warrant in July 2022, Williams admitted to owning the gun and its location. He told police he had the gun because gang members called him that morning and ordered him to keep it at gunpoint until they took it from him later that day.

Although Williams was charged and pleaded guilty in the summer of 2022, the verdict was not announced until recently.

Williams did not reveal any details about the gang he claimed forced him to possess the gun and ammunition, but the court did not consider any special circumstances relevant to the charges. There was also no suggestion in the judgment that the pistol was used in a crime.

Although there was no suggestion Williams had any criminal record and he confessed to the crime at the scene and told police where the gun was, Judge Frank Williams found that the primary purpose of the case was deterrence and rehabilitation. As there were no aggravating factors, he gave a starting point of 11 years in prison.

He was subsequently sentenced to seven years and six months in prison, after two and a half years were reduced for his guilty plea and one year for “cooperating with the search and informing the police of the location of the weapons.” He was also sentenced to two years in prison for possessing 19 rounds of ammunition, and the court ordered the two sentences to run concurrently.