MARQUETTE, Mich. – U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten today announced that Gregory James Knuuttila, of Mohawk, Michigan, was sentenced for his role in distributing methamphetamine throughout Houghton and Keweenaw Counties in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The Honorable Janet T. Neff, U.S. District Court Judge in Grand Rapids, sentenced Knuuttila to 324 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
“Methamphetamine continues to have devastating effects on individuals in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula,” said U.S. Attorney Mark Totten. “Gregory James Knuuttila trafficked these poisons, threatened violence, and then obstructed criminal proceedings. He now faces accountability for his crimes.”
In July 2022, members of the Michigan State Police Hometown Security Team, in collaboration with the Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Team (UPSET), stopped Knuuttila and a passenger as they drove through Ontonagon County. During a search of the vehicle, investigators found 207.8 grams of high-purity methamphetamine. After being charged in federal court for his involvement in methamphetamine trafficking, Knuuttila attempted to deter potential witnesses from testifying in his case.
At the sentencing hearing, Judge Neff called Knuuttila a “menace to the Upper Peninsula.” Judge Neff found during his sentencing that Knuuttila directed others to use violence to collect drug debts and possessed firearms. Judge Neff concluded Knuuttila was responsible for distributing and possessing with intent to distribute more than two pounds of methamphetamine. Judge Neff also found that while his federal charges were pending, Knuuttila attempted to obstruct justice and attempted to smuggle drugs into a jail for purposes of redistribution.
While imposing sentence, Judge Neff referred to Knuuttila’s criminal history as “atrocious” and found it “impossible to overlook the nature and extent of his criminal history.” Knuuttila had nearly unbroken involvement in the criminal justice system since he became an adult. Knuuttila’s first criminal convictions were in 1996. Over the intervening decades, he was convicted of more than twenty additional crimes, including robbery, breaking and entering, assault with a dangerous weapon, and domestic assault on two occasions. Knuuttila was nearly continuously in custody or under the supervision of a court from 1996 to 2022, when he was arrested for the offense to which he pleaded guilty in federal court.
The Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Team, Michigan State Police Hometown Security Team, and the Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hanna L. Rutkowski and Ted Greeley prosecuted the case.
Gregory James Knuuttila has been implicated in various other criminal activities throughout Houghton and Keweenaw Counties, and elsewhere. If you have additional information about Knuuttila’s criminal activities, please contact the Michigan State Police – Calumet Post at (906) 337-5145.
