Man who led police on high-speed chase from Storrow Drive, across the Tobin, into Chelsea, gets four years on gun plea

A federal judge today ordered a sentence longer than requested by prosecutors for a Dorchester man who led state troopers on a chase when one tried pulling him over in his Focus for excessive window tint on Storrow Drive and ended when he crashed into two cars in Chelsea on Aug. 10, 2018.

Raughn Williams, 23, pleaded guilty in June to a federal charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

The US Attorney's office had requested a sentence of 41 months, because of his past criminal record and because of the risk his high-speed attempt to evade State Police posed to members of the public.

He was armed with a loaded firearm, which he possessed in connection with his sale of illegal drugs, and he led police on a car chase through Boston and into Chelsea, and in the process struck two vehicles, one of which was occupied. This was extremely dangerous, reckless behavior.

At a hearing today, US District Court Judge Leo Sorokin sentenced Williams to 48 months in federal custody. This is in addition to a two-year sentence he was serving out of Dorchester District Court in 2021 for violating probation on a conviction of assault with a dangerous weapon in 2016. Sorokin ruled that his federal sentence would run concurrently with his state one.

Williams's attorney had asked for a sentence of just 30 months, saying Williams is "yet another unfortunate example of a young man of color that has been surrounded with misfortune and negative influences since the time of his birth," which included growing up with an abusive father and ADHD in a violent part of Dorchester.

He added that Williams had the gun with him the day of the chase for self defense - and asked for leniency because he now has daughter:

He wishes to be a father to his infant daughter, now 6 months old, who he has not even been able to spend time with outside of jail.

Ideally, Mr. Williams would like to begin a new life with his family away from Massachusetts and from all of the negative associations related with Dorchester and Boston. This includes living in a neighborhood where violence and drug use are commonplace. He also dislikes the feeling of always being vigilant because someone might harm him for any reason.

Thus, the desire to carry a gun for self-protection. He is also wary around the local police, who are now familiar with him, and could at any moment decide they want to roust him for walking or driving in a particular area. His dream is to leave all of this behind. When Mr. Williams was 18, he traveled to North Carolina for a short time to get away from the problems he had experienced in Boston. He connected with an Aunt who has connections to people who do legitimate work in the music and entertainment industry. He would very much like to use her as a resource so he might eventually get a job in that field. He does not wish to spend the rest of his life revolving in and out of prison or dead from using drugs.