A man from Harlem, New York has been sentenced to 24 years in prison on drug trafficking conspiracy and firearms charges. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Perry says Malcolm Cowart came to Maine in late 2011 or early 2012 and, with a group of other individuals, distributed significant quantities of heroin and crack cocaine in the Portland area. Perry says the drugs were brought from the New York by so-called managers who stayed with Portland residents who were paid drugs and money for allowing the conspirators to use their apartments to distribute drugs.
He says the long sentence is related to the harm inflicted.
“Mr. Cowart’s conspiracy started approximately the time period where the drug market in Maine was changing from oxycodones to heroin and that Mr. Cowart’s introduction of large amounts of heroin clearly contributed to where we are today in the opioid epidemic,” Perry says.
Cowart pled guilty to the charges in January.
