A federal judge sentenced Manuel Ramon Martinez, of Austin, to 78 months in federal prison Friday for possession and intent to distribute fentanyl. Martinez will be booked into prison in January and will not leave until at least 2028, according to federal records and his defense attorney.
Federal and local law enforcement arrested Martinez, 31, in February following a search of his home that netted roughly 1,120 pills laced with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Police also found two semi-automatic rifles, two handguns and more than $19,000 in cash, according to a federal complaint. U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel oversaw Martinez’s case.
The federal complaint detailing Martinez’s arrest does not tie him directly to any deaths caused by fentanyl, but it does note illegal prescription pills and laced pills like the ones found in his apartment killed 17 people in Austin and surrounding cities between March 2020 and January 2021.
Fentanyl deaths have skyrocketed in the past three years in Central Texas and throughout the state and country. The mounting death toll has caught the attention of state and federal leaders, who have increased penalties for dealing the drug and vowed to intercept more of it entering the U.S.
Cedar Park Police, including Sgt. Justin Miller, worked with federal agents to arrest Martinez. Police and federal agents surveilled Martinez for months prior to his arrest. The officers used an informant to buy oxycodone pills from Martinez on three separate occasions. Police monitored the purchases, tested the pills and found they contained fentanyl, according to a federal complaint.
State effort to stop fentanyl deaths
State leaders have trained their sites on fentanyl. In July, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a new law increasing penalties for making or selling the drug. State law now prescribes a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison for manufacture or delivery of 4-200 grams of fentanyl. That penalty goes up to minimum of 15 years for 200-400 grams and to a minimum of 20 years for more than 400 grams, according to Abbott’s office. Those penalty changes only affect cases in state court. Martinez’s case was handled in federal court, where judges use different sentencing guidelines.