New Bedford Gang Member Sentenced to Prison for Gun and Drug Trafficking

BOSTON – A member of the Gangster Disciples was sentenced on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015, for his role in a conspiracy to transport drugs and guns between Massachusetts and Maine.

Michael Knott, 29, of New Bedford, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to six years in prison and four years of supervised release, during which time he is prohibited from associating with other gang members.  In June 2015, Knott pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, cocaine base and heroin, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and distribution of cocaine base.

Knott, and several persons that later cooperated with the government, where involved in a conspiracy to transport a gun to the New Bedford area from Gray, Maine, and transport drugs to Maine.  In June 2013, Knott used a straw purchaser to acquire two firearms in Maine, and then the guns were transported to New Bedford.  In addition, between May and July 2013, Knott traveled to Gray, Maine up to four times each week, bringing heroin and cocaine.

In August 2013, during an undercover meeting with a cooperating witness monitored by federal agents, Knott bragged about his successful drug business in Maine, claimed that he could get any kind of firearm from his source in Maine, and listed several different handguns that he could obtain. 

Knott, a convicted felon, has numerous drug convictions and is also a member of the Gangster Disciples, a street gang operating in New Bedford.  During the sentencing hearing, Judge Sorokin noted the seriousness of the offenses and the need to protect the public from those, like Knott, that have a history of violence and drug dealing and participate in the trafficking in guns into Massachusetts.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Daniel J. Kumor, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division; New Bedford Police Chief David A. Provencher; Cumberland County, Maine Sheriff Kevin J. Joyce; and Maine Drug Enforcement Agency Director Roy E. McKinney, made the announcement.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Glenn A. MacKinlay of Ortiz’s Organized Crime and Gang Unit and Eve Piemonte of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.