Accused drug dealer tries paying informant to be a hitman in Vermont, feds say
While under federal investigation, a man accused of dealing drugs in Vermont asked someone who was secretly working with law enforcement if they were “willing to kill” another man “who had disrespected and stolen from (him),” prosecutors said.
During a drug deal monitored by authorities in February, Tremaine Knight met with the confidential informant in Massachusetts and offered $10,000 to them in exchange for killing the man, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont.
Knight, who’s from Hartford, Connecticut, detailed “the murder” plan and revealed more information about the person he wanted dead to the informant during additional meet-ups, when they bought drugs from Knight, prosecutors said.
The “buys” took place between February and March and were coordinated by the FBI and Vermont Drug Task Force, the agencies investigating Knight, who also goes by “Brody,” according to prosecutors.
On one of the occasions in Brattleboro, Vermont, prosecutors said Knight “paid the (confidential informant) a $1,000 deposit for the murder by canceling a drug debt.”
Knight was arrested “following that buy,” according to prosecutors.
On March 27, Knight, 43, was indicted on charges of murder-for-hire and distribution of fentanyl, cocaine and cocaine base, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a March 31 news release.
Attorneys appointed to represent Knight didn’t immediately return McClatchy News’ requests for comment April 1.
Knight was detained ahead of trial on March 25, according to a court order signed by a U.S. magistrate judge.
“(Knight) has multiple felony convictions for drug sales,” has made “threats to kill a witness/(confidential informant),” and has a history of “prior violations of supervised release,” reads a handwritten note left on the final page of the order.
Over the course of the investigation, Knight sold drugs to the informant during three meet-ups in Massachusetts and two meetings in Brattleboro, which is located in southern Vermont, about a 110-mile drive northwest from Boston, according to prosecutors.
In Vermont, prosecutors said Knight sold the informant an estimated 140 grams of cocaine and more than 40 grams of fentanyl, then separately sold them about 150 grams of cocaine, “30 grams of cocaine base” and 85 grams of fentanyl.
The informant has a pending state drug case against them in Vermont and is “seeking consideration” by working with the Vermont Drug Task Force, according to court documents.
The Vermont State Police agency, established in 1987, employs undercover state troopers as well as local, county and federal law-enforcement officers. The task force investigates drug trafficking.
The FBI also uses informants, also known as “confidential human sources” in criminal investigations, according to a report published by the Intercept in January 2017, when the non-profit news organization reported the FBI had 15,000 informants, including people who were migrants.
On April 3, Knight is scheduled to answer to the charges against him at an arraignment, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
This story was originally published April 1, 2025 at 11:56 AM with the headline "Accused drug dealer tries paying informant to be a hitman in Vermont, feds say."
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