United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

ANSONIA MAN SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR TRAFFICKING COCAINE

Nora R. Dannehy, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ABRAHAM MARTINEZ, 27, of Ansonia, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Christopher F. Droney in Hartford to 60 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for possessing with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine.  MARTINEZ pleaded guilty to the offense on September 18, 2007.

According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in court, MARTINEZ pleaded guilty to state drug trafficking charges in Bridgeport in September 2006, but continued to sell drugs while he was out on bond.  On November 27, 2006, law enforcement officers observed MARTINEZ operating a black Lexus at a high rate of speed as he drove through Stratford and Bridgeport.  When the officers conducted a traffic stop, MARTINEZ was unable to provide proof of valid insurance for the automobile.  As MARTINEZ searched for his insurance card, the officers observed a small plastic bag containing crack cocaine in the driver-side door compartment.  MARTINEZ was then placed under arrest and transported to the Stratford Police Department, where he gave the officers written consent to search his Ansonia apartment and a vehicle registered in his name, a 2000 GMC Yukon parked on Freeman Street in Bridgeport.  Officers discovered one kilogram of cocaine in a hidden compartment in the Yukon, and $3,285 in a safe at his apartment.  MARTINEZ admitted to the officers that the cocaine belonged to him, and that the cash represented proceeds from his drug sales.

MARTINEZ is currently serving his sentence for the state drug conviction in a Connecticut Department of Correction institution.  He will begin serving his federal sentence on May 1, 2009.

This matter stems from an investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, with assistance from the Stratford Police Department, into the distribution of controlled substances throughout the greater Bridgeport area.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Harold H. Chen.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov