A Snohomish man was sentenced to 17 years in prison Friday for hiring a hitman to kill a witness in his drug trafficking court case, according to the U.S. Department of Justice in Western Washington.
Michael John Scott, 44, was charged with 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.
Scott pleaded guilty in 2019 to taking part in a major drug-trafficking scheme that spanned several states. The next year, he was sentenced to over six years in prison for dealing fentanyl-laced pills and cocaine.
Before he was taken into custody, Scott set up a drug deal with a confidential source working with the Drug Enforcement Agency to sell fentanyl-laced imitation oxycodone pills, according to U.S. attorneys. When he arrived to make the deal in Whatcom County, he was arrested and then charged, again.
After his indictment in the newer case, and while in custody at the Federal Detention Center in SeaTac, Scott made phone calls during which he indicated he knew the confidential source's identity and blamed him for his new charges, court documents say.
In 2021, Scott offered to pay another incarcerated person $2,000 to help find a hitman to kill the confidential source and an associate of his, U.S. attorneys alleged. Scott said he would pay $10,000 for each of the murders and wanted the deaths to appear to be fentanyl overdoses, court records say.
According to U.S. attorneys, Scott wanted to prevent the source from testifying against him during his trial. The murder-for-hire plot did not succeed, according to court documents.
