On February 14, 2002, 55-year-old
limousine driver Costas "Gus" Christofi was shot and killed at Williams's estate in
Alexandria Township, New Jersey.
[9] Christofi had been hired to drive Williams's NBA charity team from a
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, event to his mansion, about 30 miles (48 km) northwest of
Trenton, New Jersey. Members of Williams's NBA charity basketball team were present at the scene. The
New York Post reported that Williams was playing with a shotgun while giving a tour of his 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m2) home when the weapon fired, killing Christofi.
In April 2004, Williams was acquitted of the more serious charges against him, but the court's jury deadlocked on a charge of reckless
manslaughter. He was convicted on four counts of trying to cover up the shooting.
[10]
On April 21, 2006, a
Hunterdon County appeals court ruled that Williams could be retried on a reckless
manslaughter charge stemming from the shooting death of Christofi.
[11][12] The court repeatedly delayed the retrial for a series of reasons, such as the State's 2008 appeal of a ruling relating to prosecutorial misconduct at the first trial.
[13]
On January 11, 2010, Williams pleaded guilty to
aggravated assault.
[14] On February 23, 2010, he was finally sentenced to 5 years in prison with possible parole after 18 months.
[15] Williams was subsequently moved on April 19, 2011,
[16] to
Riker's Island to serve an additional 1-year sentence for a
DWI,
[17] of which he served 8 months and was released from custody on April 13, 2012.
[17][18]