St. Cloud woman pleads guilty to leading drug enterprise between U.S. and Mexico

Macalla Lee Knott was directing shipments of methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl to distributors across the Upper Midwest.

March 16, 2023 at 10:41PM
The Department of Justice seal is seen, ahead of a news conference of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein speaks announcing the indictment against international computer hacking, at Department of Justice in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018. The Justice Department says two Iranian computer hackers have been charged in connection with multimillion-dollar cybercrime and extortion scheme that targeted U.S. government agencies and businesses.
A St. Cloud woman pleaded guilty on Monday to federal drug trafficking charges. (Associated Press/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

A St. Cloud woman who led a meth, cocaine and fentanyl drug trafficking enterprise between Mexico and the U.S. entered a guilty plea this week on three federal charges.

The defendant, 30-year-old Macalla Lee Knott, had been living in Mexico since March 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Knott was directing shipments of methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl to distributors across the Upper Midwest, and arranged payments to suppliers in Mexico.

As part of her agreement, Knott pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, participating in an international money laundering conspiracy and continuing a criminal enterprise.

Knott had been involved with the operation since January 2019 and, as part of her plea deal, admitted to managing more than five other people. Knott was indicted in January 2022 in North Dakota District Court. Knott's attorney, Tanya Martinez, declined to comment Thursday.

Members of the drug shipping conspiracy would pay the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico in exchange for substances, before distributing them in the U.S., court records show.

Authorities have seized over 100 pounds of meth, 9 pounds of fentanyl powder and 120,000 fentanyl pills through the investigation. The investigation is still active, the DOJ said.

The group would use violence and threats to ensure payment and as an attempt to conceal their activities, the indictment states. They also used a variety of smartphone apps and financial transaction methods to hide where the proceeds went.

There have been 18 defendants charged in North Dakota so far in the case, and two of them have been sentenced. Those include Mary Thompson, 29, of Moorhead, Minn., and Melanie Quick, 28, of St. Cloud.

Another defendant, David Robert Nowlan, was charged with possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Thompson was sentenced to more than eight years and four months in prison, while Quick was sentenced to nine years in prison. Both received three years of supervised release.

Knott's sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 7.

about the writer

about the writer

Louis Krauss

Reporter

Louis Krauss is a general assignment reporter for the Star Tribune.

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