Bates professor charged with cocaine trafficking

PORTLAND – A Bates College professor sold cocaine, let drug dealers stay in her home and hosted a barbecue where crack cocaine was cooked up on her kitchen stove, according to court documents.

Linda Williams, 50, found herself in federal court facing drug charges on Monday when her lawyer said she should have been making preparations to travel to South Africa on a Fulbright scholarship.

The music professor was charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine, and two counts of distributing crack cocaine.

Defense lawyer Neria Douglass said her client got into trouble because she was too kind to some people who needed a place to stay. Two of them were Jamaican drug dealers, according to court documents.

“These do arise out of some relationships with people who were asking to stay in her home, and that’s where things went wrong,” Douglass said.

Williams quietly answered a federal magistrate’s questions during Monday’s initial court appearance in which her bond was set at $25,000.

Her sister and several Bates professors sat in the small courtroom to show support. Afterward, Williams was returned to the Cumberland County Jail while her lawyer sought to make arrangements for bond.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jon Toof said Williams was involved in a group in the Lewiston and Augusta areas. There was no evidence that Williams sold any cocaine to students at the Lewiston college, he said.

An affidavit filed in U.S. District Court indicates the case against Williams began in January when a confidential source in jail told investigators about the professor.

Eventually, three informants told investigators about the activities of Williams and two Jamaicans under investigation for cocaine distribution, according to the affidavit by Brian Featheringham, a senior special agent with the Customs Service.

One of the Jamaicans, Easton “Bill” Wilson is in custody and awaiting trial; the other, Roderick “Rod” Allen, is on the lam, officials said.

The affidavit indicated Williams was paid rent in the form of cocaine for letting Wilson and Allen stay in her house, and that one of the informants used her car to run cocaine while she was on a business trip.

Eventually, one of the informants agreed to be equipped with an electronic transmitter for two purchases of cocaine rocks from Williams this month, the affidavit said.

On Friday, after she was arrested, a search warrant was executed at Williams’ house, and drugs and other drug-related items were seized, Featheringham said after Monday’s hearing.

Douglass said her client, a tenured professor at Bates College, had no idea she was being investigated.

“She was absolutely dumbfounded that these types of charges [were brought] … and shocked,” Douglass said. “This is a person who has a full and rewarding life, and this is a crushing blow,” she added.

If convicted, each of the three counts carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1 million.

Williams arrived at Bates in 1996 as a lecturer and is now an assistant professor, said Brian McNulty, director of college relations.

She received her doctorate from Indiana University, has a background in the study of African-American music, and was scheduled to leave next week to work on a Fulbright Scholarship in Cape Town, South Africa.

Her research focuses on the impact of American jazz on musical cultures of Zimbabwe, Malawi and South Africa. A photograph on the college Web site shows her playing the saxophone.

She is currently working on an anthology about African-American women musicians and black feminism.