A former Penn Hills man who prosecutors say was involved with a gang trafficking in fentanyl has been sentenced to more than 24 years in federal prison after being convicted of conspiracy.

U.S. District Judge Marilyn J. Horan imposed the 293-month sentence Tuesday on Jamal Knox, 29, in federal court in Pittsburgh. The prison term for Knox will be followed by 10 years of supervised release.

In evidence introduced at Knox’s December 2022 trial, federal prosecutors said Knox supplied fentanyl to large-scale drug traffickers who referred to themselves as Hustlas Don’t Sleep between about September 2017 and November 2019.

At the same time, Knox possessed multiple firearms, including an AR-15-style assault rifle and various handguns. As a convicted felon, he was not allowed to have any guns.

When investigators served a search warrant at his home, they uncovered $50,000 in cash and items used in trafficking fentanyl, according to court documents.

Horan said Knox’s significant criminal history and his attempts to intimidate and retaliate against trial witnesses were factors in his sentence.

While witnesses were testifying, known associates of Knox would enter the courtroom and sit in the public gallery, leaving when the testimony ended. The court also determined that, while he was detained pending sentencing, Knox attempted to have other people who were not behind bars retaliate against trial witnesses.

In a memo to the court regarding sentencing, prosecutors said Knox arranged to have social media posts made that included coffin signs with the names of cooperating witnesses while urging others not to allow the witnesses to breathe.

Prosecutors indicated one of the witnesses, while walking on a street in Swissvale on Jan. 18, 2023, was accosted by four males wearing ski masks who referred to the witness as a snitch. The witness escaped into a store and called 911.

“Today’s significant sentence reflects the egregiousness of Knox’s conduct, his refusal to leave the deadly drug trade behind after multiple prior convictions and his blatant efforts to silence those who would expose the extent of his criminal conduct — including while they testified in a federal courtroom,” said U.S. Attorney Eric G. Olshan.

Olshan said the FBI, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, state police and officers from Allegheny County, Monroeville and Penn Hills police departments took part in the investigation that led to Knox’s prosecution.

In the court memo, prosecutors cited additional information they contended should be considered in sentencing Knox. They argued that a series of tattoos across Knox’s stomach reading “Money,” “Murder” and “Mayhem” are “his personal philosophies.”

Prosecutors also referred to YouTube videos created by Knox that include an image of someone being executed by handgun and of the defendant threatening gun violence. Knox also is shown, in the role of a “general,” providing a gun and payment to a subordinate to commit murder.

The videos glorify violence and drug trafficking and, in one, the defendant is seen encouraging disrespect of law enforcement and threatening to kill those who cooperate with police, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors noted Knox was convicted of drug trafficking, firearms and traffic violations resulting from an incident in April 2012, when he sped away from an attempted traffic stop by Pittsburgh police and crashed the Jeep Grand Cherokee he was driving without a license. According to the court document, a stolen firearm and heroin packaged for sale were found in the vehicle.

While charges were pending in that case, Knox and a co-defendant recorded a rap song and video that was posted online with lyrics expressing hatred toward Pittsburgh police. It included descriptions of killing police informants and police officers — naming two city officers who were set to testify against Knox and the co-defendant. As a result, Knox was convicted of terroristic threats.

At the time, The Associated Press reported, Knox argued that the song was strictly artistic in nature and not intended as a threat to police. He denied posting it and said he did not intend it to be publicly disseminated.

Knox lost an appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which ruled that the lyrics were “highly personalized” and were not protected by free speech rights. Chief Justice Thomas Saylor noted that Knox spoke of when the officers’ shifts ended and his plans to attack them “where you sleep.”

One of the officers said the video shocked him and was among the reasons he left the department and relocated, Saylor said. The other officer received additional security.

Some rap artists and scholars argued in a legal brief that Knox’s song should be viewed as a political statement, but the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the case.

Countering the sentencing memo by prosecutors in the fentanyl case, Knox and his defense attorney cited court cases in support of their argument that rap music is a form of artistic expression that constitutes political and social discourse and is protected under the First Amendment. They contended that his body art also is protected speech.

According to the defense, the video involved in Knox’s failed appeal to the Supreme Court was created in the aftermath of a 2012 traffic stop by city police, in which Leon Ford Jr. of Shaler was shot and paralyzed in a case of mistaken identity. In 2018, the city settled with Ford for more than $5 million.

The video was uploaded to YouTube by a third party and was taken down three days later, the defense said.

Regarding the prosecutors’ accusation of intimidation against Knox and his associates who observed witness testimony, the defense said the prosecution “never made any effort whatsoever to either identify the individuals who observed trial testimony nor even ask the witnesses themselves 1) whether they know the trial observers and 2) whether they were intimidated or concerned.”

The defense added, “If protecting cooperating witnesses was as important to the government as it claims in its sentencing memorandum, one would expect an investigation and, if appropriate, an indictment. Instead, the government chose to do nothing.”

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