TACOMA, WA – Michael John Scott, a 44-year-old from Snohomish, Washington, received a 17-year prison term for a series of charges, including plotting to kill a witness in his drug trafficking case.
Scott was sentenced today on counts of Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances, Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking, Use of Interstate Commerce Facilities in the Commission of Murder for Hire, and Tampering with a Witness, Victim, or Informant. During the sentencing, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Bryan stated that Scott’s crimes were “most serious offenses” and noted his long history of drug dealing.
Previously, Scott had been sentenced in January 2020 to 78 months in prison for distributing fentanyl-laced pills and cocaine. Court documents reveal that while awaiting this sentence, he continued to orchestrate drug deals. Scott was arrested on January 30, 2020, as he arrived to sell fentanyl pills to a person in Whatcom County, who was collaborating with law enforcement.
After his arrest in January 2020, Scott, while detained at the Federal Detention Center in SeaTac, Washington, offered to pay an associate $2,000 for help in locating a hitman to murder a witness and an associate of that witness. He promised $10,000 for each death, specifying he wanted the fatalities to look like fentanyl overdoses. Scott sent letters, disguised as ‘legal mail,’ to whom he believed was the hitman and to a friend to arrange payment.
In June 2019, Scott had pleaded guilty to his role in a 32-defendant drug trafficking case, U.S. v Hernandez et al, which was unsealed in December 2018. He was a high-volume dealer of fentanyl-laced imitation oxycodone pills and cocaine, delivering large sums to his suppliers. A December 2018 search of his residence led to the discovery of illegal drugs, over $40,000 in cash, and other paraphernalia related to drug trafficking.