Convicted Sex Offender Who Tried To Club 2 Lawmen Gets Prison Time
On Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Chief US District Judge Roberto A. Lange sentenced Cletus Gerald “CJ” Williams III to 26 months imprisonment for failing to register as a sex offender and attacking two Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services in early January. South Dakota Sex Offender Registry photo.
A convicted sex offender who tried to club a pair of federal officers in South Dakota with firewood gets to stay behind bars a little longer.
On Tuesday, Aug. 16, in Sioux Falls, Chief US District Judge Roberto A. Lange sentenced Cletus Gerald “CJ” Williams III to 26 months of imprisonment for failing to register as a sex offender and attacking two Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services officers in early January.
Williams, 25, had faced up to 20 years in a federal penitentiary and a $250,000 fine, but on May 3 he inked a plea deal with federal prosecutors.
He was convicted in 2017 of sexually abusing a girl and sentenced to 30 months in Federal Correctional Institution Pekin in Illinois. He was convicted in early 2020 of failing to register as a sex offender after exiting the penitentiary and was sentenced to another year and a day behind bars.
Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services officers safeguard more than 33,000 residents scattered across 1,389 square miles of tribal territory in South Dakota. Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services photo.
Williams’ latest legal woes began on Oct. 25, 2021. Before exiting prison, Williams had again promised to register as a sex offender. He was slated to start his supervised release at the Bishop Dudley Hospitality House in Sioux Falls.
But Williams neither enrolled in the sex offender program or showed up at the shelter, so authorities revoked his probation and issued another arrest warrant.
The law caught up to Williams before dawn on Jan. 4 in the village of Two Strike near Rosebud. Williams was causing a disturbance at a residence there and Officers Milton Wright and Oliver Semans Jr. responded.
Announcing he wasn’t going back to jail, Williams balled his fists to fight Wright and went for him. Wright drew his Taser from his holster and performed a spark test, which sent electricity arcing across the nose of the stun gun.
The village of Two Strike in Todd County, South Dakota, is named after the great Brulé Lakota chief Nomkahpa (1831–1915), or "Two Strikes." He earned the title after knocking a pair of Utes off their horses with a single swing of his war club. Composite by Coffee or Die Magazine.
Williams retreated to a fire pit, grabbed two pieces of wood, and began using them as clubs.
Ordered to drop the logs, Williams instead ran back and forth at the officers. Then he turned suddenly to flee down a trail, the officers on his heels. After a short chase, he gave up, dropped to his knees, and tossed aside the sticks.
But Williams wasn’t done.
As the officers escorted him to a patrol vehicle, Williams said if he whistled twice a hilltop sniper would shoot both lawmen.
Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services officers safeguard more than 33,000 residents scattered across 1,389 square miles of tribal territory in South Dakota. Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services photo.
Claiming he was connected to a narcotics cartel, Williams later told the cops he had a global positioning system tracker on him and when they drove to Highway 18 they’d be ambushed.
Williams warned Wright he’d “be sorry when his brain would be splattered on the window,” according to the plea agreement.
Williams has been in federal custody ever since, according to his sex offender records.
His attorney didn't respond to Coffee or Die Magazine messages seeking comment.
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Carl Prine is a former senior editor at Coffee or Die Magazine. He has worked at Navy Times, The San Diego Union-Tribune, and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He served in the Marine Corps and the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. His awards include the Joseph Galloway Award for Distinguished Reporting on the military, a first prize from Investigative Reporters & Editors, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.
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