David Simon, Creator of ‘The Wire,’ Requests Leniency for Man Charged in Michael K. Williams’ Death
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David Simon, co-creator of The Wire, has asked a Manhattan judge to grant leniency to a man being charged in connection with the 2021 drug overdose death of actor Michael K. Williams.
Carlos Macci, 71, is one of four men charged in connection with Williams’ death. All have pleaded guilty, with Macci’s sentencing scheduled for later this month. While Macci’s recommended sentence is 10 years, Simon sent a three-page letter on his behalf to Judge Ronnie Abrams, urging a shorter sentence.
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“What happened to Mike is a grievous tragedy,” Simon wrote, according to The New York Times. “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.”
He added, “No possible good can come from incarcerating a 71-year-old soul, largely illiterate, who has himself struggled with a lifetime of addiction.” Simon described Macci as “someone caught up in the diaspora of addiction himself.”
In the letter, Simon recalled how Williams brought up his struggles with addiction to a producer on The Wire while making the show’s third season. “Then, to stay at work — which was, in fact, a stabilizing influence in his life — he readily agreed to let us help him address his drug use,” Simon wrote, “going so far as to seek the constant companionship of a crew member whose job was to assure some distance between Mike and temptation.”
He went on to call 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… I never failed to see him take responsibility for himself and his decisions.”
Simon wrote the letter at the request of Benjamin Zeman, Macci’s lawyer. Zeman said he asked Simon 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.”
Williams was found dead inside his Brooklyn home on Sept. 7, 2021. It was later confirmed by a toxicology report, released on Sept. 24, 2021, that cocaine, fentanyl, and heroin were present in his system.
Besides The Wire, Williams was known for his work on Boardwalk Empire and Lovecraft County. He earned four Emmy nomination in total, including for his portrayal of Bessie Smith’s husband in the 2015 TV movie Bessie.
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