Attorney General Bondi’s Office of Statewide Prosecution Successfully Prosecutes Orlando Man for Organized Drug Trafficking
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Attorney General Pam Bondi today announced that an
Orlando man was convicted by an Orange County jury of conspiracy to traffic
in more than 400 grams of cocaine. Manolo Martinez, 41, was a cocaine
distributor sourced by a highly organized drug trafficking organization
operating out of Puerto Rico. He was prosecuted by the Attorney General’s
Office of Statewide Prosecution.
Martinez, of Orlando, was involved in conspiring to obtain and distribute
more than four kilos of heroin seized in Orlando on Aug. 6, 2009 that was
found in his vehicle being driven by an employee of his, Armando Crespo.
The drug trafficking organization was shipping kilograms of cocaine from
Puerto Rico to various addresses throughout Central Florida including
Orange, Osceola and Polk counties. It is estimated that between November
2008 and August 2009, over 60 kilograms of cocaine with a retail value of
$1.8 million were shipped into Central Florida by this organization.
The long-term investigation and prosecution of Martinez and 13 codefendants
were the result of cooperative efforts by the United States Postal
Inspection Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Immigration
and Customs Enforcement Agency, the Orange County-based Metropolitan Bureau
of Investigation, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, and the Orlando
Police Department.
Martinez was found guilty of one count of conspiring to traffic in 400
grams or more of cocaine, a first-degree felony, and was immediately
sentenced to 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine by Ninth Circuit Judge
Renee A. Roche. A codefendant, Alphonso Williams, was similarly found
guilty after a trial in March 2010, and he was also sentenced to 30 years
in prison. Crespo and several others have entered pleas of guilty to their
charges and are set for sentencing in this case.
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Contact:
Jenn Meale
Phone: 850.245.0150
jennifer.meale@myfloridalegal.com
