Macalla Knott, a native of St. Cloud, pleaded guilty to working with a Mexican drug cartel to import methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl into the Midwest.
FARGO, N.D. — A St. Cloud woman will serve a 26-year federal sentence for playing a major role in a Mexican drug operation that funneled large quantities of meth, cocaine and fentanyl into the Midwest.
Macalla Knott was sentenced last week in Fargo after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, money laundering conspiracy and continuing criminal enterprise. The 32-year-old will serve her time at a facility where she can undergo substance abuse treatment, be offered educational and vocational training, and have access to mental health services and treatment.
An indictment filed against Knott and a handful of co-defendants accused them of engaging in a conspiracy with the Sinaloa Cartel that smuggled narcotics into Minnesota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Wisconsin and elsewhere in the U.S. for distribution. Part of the conspiracy involved using violence and the threat of violence to ensure payment and conceal their illegal activities.
The indictment described Knott as “the leader, organizer, manager, and supervisor in this conspiracy.”
During a plea hearing in March of 2023, Macalla Knott admitted she had been living in Mexico for three years supervising, managing and leading more than five people in the drug smuggling enterprise while directing shipments of methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl to various distributors across the upper Midwest. In turn, she also arranged payments to cartel suppliers in Mexico.
Federal prosecutors said the investigation into Knott’s enterprise led to seizures of over 100 pounds of methamphetamine, 9 pounds of fentanyl powder and 120,000 fentanyl pills. A total of 18 defendants have been charged in North Dakota in connection with the conspiracy including Macalla’s father Jeffrey Robert Knott, who was federally indicted for obstructing justice in the prosecution of his daughter.
Macalla Knott had previously been convicted at the state level of selling a controlled substance and served time in a Minnesota prison.
Another woman from central Minnesota, 33-year-old Deanna Gerads of Freeport, has pleaded guilty to charges to conspiracy to distribute and possess controlled substances for her role in the same drug operation but has not been sentenced yet. Gerads was apprehended in Mexico in Aug. of 2023 after a year of being listed as a fugitive on narcotics trafficking charges from North Dakota.