Man gets more than five years on drug charges
Staff report
YOUNGSTOWN
A federal judge this week handed down a 70-month sentence to a man for again selling drugs.
John Martinez, 45, of Youngstown, received the sentence after entering guilty pleas in April to five counts of distribution of heroin and a single count of possession with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine.
U.S. Northern District Court Of Ohio Judge Benita Y. Pearson handed down the sentence.
The charges stem from a search warrant served at Martinez’s Youngstown home in April 2013 by the Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force, where they found 105.3 grams of heroin, 88.3 grams of powdered cocaine and more than $22,500 in cash.
A sentencing memorandum said Martinez sold drugs several times to an undercover informant during the investigation.
Martinez’s attorney, Joseph Gardner, wrote in a sentencing memorandum his client has abused drugs daily for 19 years.
Judge Pearson deviated from federal sentencing guidelines and handed down a sentence above those guidelines because Martinez had been indicted in 2001 by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. He pleaded guilty in that case and was sentenced to 46 months in prison.
He was given three years’ probation but was released early after he sent a letter saying he was a “law-abiding citizen,” Judge Pearson wrote.