New York Man Sentenced to 24 Years on Drug Trafficking Conspiracy and Firearms Charges

Portland, Maine: Acting United States Attorney Richard W. Murphy announced that Malcolm Cowart, a/k/a “Prince”, 37, of Harlem, New York, was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court by Chief Judge Nancy Torresen to 24 years in prison and five years of supervised release for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a kilogram or more of heroin, cocaine base, commonly known as “crack,” and oxycodone and for discharging a firearm during and in furtherance of that drug trafficking conspiracy. He pled guilty to the charges on January 6, 2017.

According to court records, from about November 2011 until March 2014, Cowart led a conspiracy that distributed heroin, crack, and oxycodone in Portland. The drugs were brought from the New York area by managers of the drug conspiracy. The managers stayed with Portland residents who were paid drugs and money for allowing the conspirators to use their apartments to distribute drugs. Managers dispatched runners to distribute the drugs throughout the Portland area.

In March 2013, Cowart had a falling out with Wayman Sparrow that led to the two of them engaging in a shootout inside the Lafayette Arms Apartments in Portland. In March 2014, agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency (“MDEA”) searched an apartment in Portland, encountered a manager fleeing out the back door, and seized about $25,000 in drug proceeds from him. Later that day, agents apprehended another manager traveling by bus from New York and seized about 400 grams of heroin from her.

This joint investigation was conducted by DEA, MDEA and the Portland Police Department, with valuable assistance provided by Maine State Police Crime Laboratory and the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office.