PORTLAND (AP) – A 23-year-old man from Queens, N.Y., has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for conspiring to traffic in cocaine and firearms.

Durrell Williams was convicted after a three-day jury trial in February and was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Portland.

Evidence at his trial showed that Williams transported crack cocaine from the Queens area and, along with other individuals, sold it in Portland in 2005 and 2006. Although barred by a previous felony conviction from possessing firearms, he recruited “straw purchasers” to buy guns on his behalf from licensed dealers in Maine.

Williams then transported the firearms to New York for resale. Several of the weapons were recovered by the New York Police Department in 2006.

AP-ES-06-01-09 1740EDT