Two Charged With Possessing Fentanyl Intended For Distribution

MADISON, WIS. – Two Dane County men were charged yesterday with possessing more than 400 grams of fentanyl intended for distribution. Corvalis M. Stewart, 36, Madison and Larry D. Williamson Jr., 35, Waunakee will make their initial appearance in federal court today at 1:45 pm before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen L. Crocker.

The complaint filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Madison alleges that on February 8, 2024, law enforcement arrested Stewart and Williamson Jr. at the Middleton Municipal Airport. At the time of their arrest, the two men allegedly possessed approximately 46.4 pounds of M30 Fentanyl pills and approximately 17.5 pounds of a methamphetamine and fentanyl mixture. 

According to the complaint, on February 6, 2024, law enforcement received a tip from someone who interacted with Stewart and Williamson, Jr. at an airport in Arizona, who described suspicious behavior. The tipster provided Homeland Security with the airplane tail number. The plane was a private rental plane.

The complaint indicates that law enforcement was able to determine on February 8, 2024, that the plane was traveling to the Middleton Municipal Airport. Law enforcement officers canvassed the airport parking lot and found a pickup truck parked there that was registered to Williamson Jr. A Jeep registered to Stewart was parked directly next to Williamson Jr.’s truck. A Middleton Police Officer and his narcotics detection-trained K-9 conducted a free air sniff around Stewart’s Jeep and the K9 positively alerted for the presence of controlled substances.

According to the complaint, the plane arrived at approximately 10:56 pm. Two individuals, later identified as Stewart and Williamson Jr., exited the plane and observed Stewart carrying bags and putting them in the back of his Jeep. Law enforcement detained Stewart and Williamson Jr. Based on a second positive K-9 alert on Stewart’s Jeep, investigators searched it and found 5 bundles wrapped with black electrical tape, each containing a crystal-like substance that field-tested positive for methamphetamine and fentanyl. Law enforcement also located a duffle bag with zip lock bags full of blue pills that field-tested positive for the presence of fentanyl.

If convicted, Stewart and Williamson, Jr. face a mandatory minimum penalty of ten years and a maximum penalty of life in prison. The charge against the men is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations, Dane County Narcotics and Gangs Task Force, and the Middleton Police Department, with the assistance of the Air and Marine Operations Center (AMOC) in Riverside, CA.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey Stephan is handling the case.  

A complaint is merely an allegation, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.