FARGO — A Grand Forks man was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges of possessing stolen firearms and assaulting a federal officer.

According to a release from U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider, Michael Allen Otto, 45, of Grand Forks, appeared Monday before Chief Judge Peter Welte in U.S. District Court in Fargo.

Welte sentenced Otto to 13 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Otto was also ordered to pay $175 in special assessments and pay $2,713.72 in restitution for the damaged vehicles.

According to the release, Otto was stopped by law enforcement for a routine traffic stop on September 15, 2023 and led officers on a high-speed chase. Officers eventually arrested Otto and located two stolen firearms in Otto’s vehicle. An arrest warrant for him was issued in July 2024 due to Otto’s violation of the conditions of his provisional release. Grand Forks Police officers and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents attempted to arrest Otto on July 15, but he crashed his vehicle into a Grand Forks Police Department vehicle and an occupied FBI vehicle. by two FBI agents.

“This defendant endangered the safety of federal and local law enforcement officers while violating court-ordered conditions of his pretrial release,” » said Schneider. “The severe sentence handed down today is therefore just. The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to keeping our communities safe, and that means aggressively prosecuting assaults on officers and agents in all cases within our jurisdiction.