Fall River man charged with trafficking significant amount of cocaine

PROVIDENCE – A Fall River man who allegedly made repeated trips to Puerto Rico to obtain and ship significant quantities of cocaine to Rhode Island through the U.S. Postal Service has been indicted by a federal grand jury on drug trafficking charges.

A federal grand jury in Providence returned a two-count indictment on Thursday charging David J. Knight, 47, with conspiracy to possess with intent to deliver more than one kilogram of cocaine and possession with intent to distribute more than one kilogram of cocaine, announced United States Attorney Stephen G. Dambruch and Raymond D. Moss, Acting Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division.

According to information presented to the Court during Knight’s arraignment today before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Patricia A. Sullivan, it is alleged that between June 1, 2016, and April 11, 2017, Knight, in coordination with others, made several trips to Puerto Rico for the purpose of purchasing kilograms of cocaine, that were then packaged and shipped through the U.S. Postal Service to various addresses in Rhode Island.

Knight is the ninth person charged in a series of ongoing investigations by U.S. Postal Inspection Service agents to identify and interrupt the delivery of packages of narcotics shipped through the U.S. mail to addresses in Rhode Island, to identify individuals responsible for making the shipments and to identify the intended recipients of the packages.

To date, U.S. Postal Inspection agents have documented more than 100 packages shipped from Puerto Rico to Rhode Island, which contained 300 grams or more of cocaine.

Knight was released on unsecured bond.

An indictment is merely an allegation and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.